WATERVILLE, Maine — Whether you’ve been going to the Common Ground Country Fair every year of your life or have never made it to Unity for the late September event, you’re likely familiar with the fair’s posters.
Designed by local artists and often seen on T-shirts and tote bags, some posters are an ode to local produce, highlighting beets, garlic scapes or pumpkins. Others center on cows, pigs and chickens, which play a vital role in Maine organic farming.
When Meg Gammon and her colleagues at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, which runs the fair, started thinking about how they could celebrate 50 years of Common Ground, the posters came to mind immediately.
“They have just become so iconic … They’re a community builder, a relationship builder,” Gammon said. “When somebody sees somebody wearing a fair shirt, there’s that immediate connection, and usually a conversation sparks from there.”
MOFGA created a traveling exhibit called “50 Years of Common Ground,” giving fans of the fair a chance to reflect on five decades of posters. Gammon said it made sense to bring the exhibit to Waterville.
Leaders at MOFGA see Waterville as the perfect hub for carpooling to the three-day fair, which starts Sept. 25, so they hope the exhibit will get plenty of traffic leading up to it. It will be on display Sept. 4-30 at the Ticonic Gallery + Studios, 93 Main St. A souvenir catalog of the posters will be available for purchase, and, thanks to Waterville Creates, the exhibit will have an interactive element for a “mini fair experience.”
To open the exhibition with a bang, Waterville plans to throw a block party.
The city’s connection to a fair might seem tenuous, but for many in the area it’s a lifelong tradition. Serena Sanborn manages outreach and community partnerships for Waterville Creates, which is working with MOFGA on the party. Sanborn has been going to the fair since it started when she was a baby.
By the time she was 17, Sanborn and her friends wanted to get more involved. They opened a gumbo stall at the fair, carefully sourcing their ingredients and seeking special permission to bring okra in from an organic farm in Louisiana. Sanborn and her friends spent three days camping out and cooking with organic, Maine ingredients. She said they had so much fun, and Sanborn is thrilled to help commemorate the fair’s 50th year.
The downtown celebration of the fair is set for 4-7 p.m. Friday. The event will bring over 50 vendors, a goat farm, the poster exhibition and a horse and carriage to Main Street.
Attendees can expect to experience work by local artisans, activities like flower crown making and chalk art, live music and free popsicles. Main Street will be closed for the event, but patrons who park at Head of Falls between 5 and 7 p.m. can plan to take a horse and carriage shuttle to the event.
Sanborn said she’s seen the fair grow almost every year of her life. This year, Gammon said, 60,000 guests and almost 600 vendors and exhibitors are expected to attend.
For families overwhelmed by crowds or the $25 cost of entry ($20 if you buy tickets early), Sanborn said Waterville’s mini, free celebration of the huge fair is the perfect compromise. For dedicated attendees, there’s no better way to get a sneak peak of what’s to come and reminisce on years past.
When Gammon, a Winslow native, thinks of her earliest memories of the fair, she remembers being most excited to eat fries. She also remembers being baffled by the ketchup (it wasn’t Heinz). Gammon is now the fair manager, but as a second grader, organic, locally made ketchup blew her mind.
Many of the vendors at the block party will be at the fair as well. Marie Sugden, exhibitions coordinator at Waterville Creates, said those vendors are a big part of what makes the fair so special.
“You wouldn’t expect to go to a fair in the middle of nowhere and find the caliber of artists that are there,” Sugden said. “In a time with technology and AI and stuff like that, having something that celebrates using your hands and something tangible is really wonderful.”
The block party is free and Sugden said the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce is anticipating between 2,000 and 3,000 attendees. That’s how much people love the fair.
“It’s all the best parts of living in Maine,” Sanborn said. “How joyful, how simple things are … I don’t think I’ve ever been to a fair anywhere else that’s like Common Ground.”
The Common Ground Country Fair will run from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25 and 26, and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at 294 Crosby Brook Road in Unity.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Abigail Pritchard can be reached at apritchard@centralmaine.com.