March 29, 2024
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Common Ground Fair to mark its 30th year

UNITY – There are no midways, fast food or games of chance at Common Ground Fair, the state’s largest alternative fair.

Instead hundreds of activities take place on the fairgrounds spacious fields, in the gardens and farmyard, as well in several exhibition halls, all celebrating rural, sustainable living. The fair is run and maintained by a cadre of hundreds of volunteers

The 30th annual Common Ground Fair will be held Sep. 22-24 at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s 40-acre facility in Unity.

MOFGA President John Bunker said that although the word education does not appear in MOFGA’s mission statement, it certainly is at the heart of the organization.

“Whenever I talk about what we do, I always come back to that word. It is the key that unlocks the door,” he said Monday.

More than 50,000 people annually attend the fair – that’s 33 cars per minute, fair officials estimate – to learn new methods of sustainable living, to enjoy Maine-made products, crafts and foods and to learn new skills.

Staying true to the theme of education, this year’s fair will feature more than 150 talks, demonstrations and exhibits each day. They will focus on healthy and environmentally sound living.

Vendors in the Maine Marketplace, producers at the farmers market, demonstrators, entertainers and exhibitors are all from Maine, and the food is locally grown, making the fair a true Maine state agricultural fair.

Each day in the common area will be a keynote address. On Friday, Maine author and longtime MOFGA farmer Cynthia Thayer of Darthia Farm in Gouldsboro will talk about the importance of eating locally grown food in season.

On Saturday, Ken Geiser, director of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, will talk about viable and clean alternatives to hazardous industrial technologies, initiatives that are taking place around the world to promote

these alternatives, and efforts to phase out the long-lived toxic chemicals that accumulate in the food web and in our bodies.

On Sunday, Maine’s first lady Karen Baldacci will talk to fair-goers about her interests in organic farming and gardening, local foods, and the work she is doing to promote effective nutrition programs.

Throughout the three-day fair, the agricultural area will offer presentations on topics as varied as seed saving, growing grains, organic gardening, farm marketing, and using garden space effectively.

In the livestock area, draft horses and ponies, dairy cattle and oxen, donkeys and mules, goats and sheep, poultry, and rabbits and guinea pigs will be featured. Sheep Dog demonstrations happen several times a day.

Dozens of Maine’s entertainers will perform, including Inkaswasi, Shawn Mercer and the Boondock Blues Band, Jimmyjo & the Jumbol’ayuhs, Under the Song Tree,

Inanna, Pat Colwell & the Soul Sensations, the Fiddlers’ Showcase, and Dave Mallett.

Sustainable living also will be featured in the energy and shelter area, the farm and homestead area, the fiber area, and in the children’s area.

The fair goes on rain or shine and the gates open at 9 a.m. daily. MOFGA offers free admission to the fair for its members. For others, tickets are $10 for ages 13 to 64, and $8 for ages 65 and over. Children 12 and under get free admission, as do people with disabilities.

Shuttle train rides are available from the Unity train station and anyone riding their bicycle to the fair gets $1 off admission. For more information and detailed schedules, check www.mofga.org.


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