110th Maryfield Fair this upcoming weekend Horse clinic Friday with fair, horse show, and supper Saturday

July 21, 2025, 3:06 pm
Ashley Bochek

Two girls petting Doug Sauter's Appaloosa horses at the fair.

The Village of Maryfield is hosting their 110th annual fair this upcoming Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26.

The fair has been a critical piece of history for the community and is still gathering people from all over Southeast Saskatchewan today.

Director and Entertainment Chair, Janet Lemon, says the fair continues to grow and changes with time.

“This is the 110th year for the fair. It has changed over the years. It started as quite an agricultural event and involved horses and cattle, but agriculture has changed. Farms became bigger and not everyone is as directly involved in agriculture anymore, so the fair has changed over the years. There were far more hand-sewn articles as well. We try to keep up with the changes—if something isn’t popular anymore then we change to make it more suitable for people and their lifestyles today.”

Variety of kids activities at Maryfield Fair

Lemon says the fair offers many activities for kids and their families.

“We have a lot more activities for kids. Years ago they didn’t have things like the bouncers and Ferris wheel. There is still a huge involvement with the horse show. Tracy Olson looks after that part of the fair. She is always changing it up with what people involved with horsemanship are doing nowadays compared to years ago. She is very involved and organizes the different events that suit the kids involved in horses today. She is very involved in horses and knows what is popular with the riders.

“We have the bouncers, the little Ferris wheel, kids carnival, the Borderland Co-op is very good at sponsoring and having a free candy floss for the kids, and so there is lots of entertainment going on. We have face painting, hair glitter, and the petting zoo is a big feature—Saddlewood Ranch is coming with their petting zoo.”

Filipino community involved in fair this year

Lemon says the committee is very excited this year to have the Filipino families in Maryfield be part of the fair.

“I am the Director and Entertainment Chair, so my job is to provide entertainment for the day. This is a really new thing we are doing this year and I have been wanting to do it for a couple of years, and so we are having the Filipino community in Maryfield come out and have a table at the fair.

“We have now five Filipino families in Maryfield. Just this past year we have had more Filipino people in our community and so they are going to have a table sort of a cultural event where they will have food that people can taste and try. They are going to display different things about their culture as well. That is definitely something new so we are very excited about that. They are really excited too, to share their community with us. It is an opportunity for us to get to know them too. They will be there from 1:30 til 4:30 on Saturday.”
Lemon adds, “Last year we did this ‘Dig for Dollars’ where the kids could go with little shovels in a huge hill of sand with money hidden in there so they could ‘Dig for Dollars’.
“Last year it was very entertaining because the kids would just dig and dig for hours and the parents would sit on the picnic bench and visit. It really entertained the kids for quite a bit of the day.”

Horse Show and fair

Lemon explains the different events happening on Friday and Saturday.

“The fair itself is one day. The first day, the Friday, the 25th, is going to be a horse clinic, and Tracy Olson introduced it a few years ago. The kids involved with the horses have lessons on what the judges expect and go through the basis of how to manage your horse. Then, the next day is going to be the horse show on the Saturday. We’ve changed the fair to a Saturday—this is the first time that the fair has been on a Saturday for years. I don’t know if it has ever been on a Saturday, but the reason it had to be during the week is that there used to be this Milk Run for the horses and so they would go from town to town and our date was always Thursday, but now there are not as many towns having these horse shows so we were able to move it to the Saturday and then Redvers will be the Sunday.

“Last year, we had the fair on a Friday and the clinic on the Friday with the horse show on Saturday, but just the general feeling from people is they want to see the horse show the same day as the fair, so that is why we moved the clinic to the day before and have the horse show on the Saturday in conjunction with the fair.”

Family tradition

Lemon says her family continues to be involved in the fair every year.

“I started helping when my kids were a lot younger and helping them exhibit different art pieces into the fair. I used to look after Junior Work, which was kids homework—things kids do at home such as baking, sewing, and things like that. It is for kids 18 and under, and they can enter a variety of things for the fair. So, I had my children enter in it when they were young and then left home, and now I have my grandchildren exhibit their pieces as well. It has been passed down in our family. Another department is schoolwork as well. I guess as a teacher—even when I went to school myself as a student, for years, there has been a Class R Schoolwork, where teachers will have the kids do different articles at the school for the fair as part of their art curriculum. Paulenna Bochek used to look after that for years. That was her department for many years as she was a teacher. So 50 years ago as a teacher I would have my kids in my grade 1 class do pieces for the fair. Now, there is Barb Boon and Cindy Cairns that have taken that over and they look after getting all the exhibits from the school and getting them pinned up at the fair. It is something that if you have lived in Maryfield then you have always been involved in the fair as a student and now as volunteer directors.”

Important part of community

Lemon says the Maryfield Fair is the community’s annual gathering and piece of history.

“I really like the fair. It is part of our community and it is something I really want our community to keep doing. Also, not all children can go away for the summer or go to a cabin at the lake so it is nice for kids that are home to be able to do something that is right at home in our own community. It is something I want to keep going.

“It is vital in our community and something I just want to see keep going. It is something I really enjoy and look forward to every summer, and I’d like to see the kids get involved. I find the more the kids get involved then the more they want to keep doing it.”

Bigger event this year

The Maryfield Fair will host a pork supper, outdoor movie, and fireworks this year.

“Amanda Cairns, our Rec Director, has come to us asking to help out too. She is working on a farmers market for the afternoon and the car show as well for Saturday. She is also getting an outdoor movie set up. She bought a blow-up screen and we are going to have that. She has also organized fireworks that night as well.

“Another thing we have is a delicious pork supper at 5pm til 7pm Saturday night. So that is also why Amanda has planned for the different activities because she wants people to stay for supper knowing there are fireworks and an outdoor movie later. It can make the day just even longer and more fun for the community.”

She says the fair gives the community a reason to celebrate and gather through the summer months.

“It is a way to keep our community alive in the summer. It is something we can look forward to. It is nice to have an event that people want to rally around and support.

“I think the community involvement is very important. I have always been a fan of community involvement.

“It is great to see all of the different people who want to help out, the list of volunteers, and everybody getting together to make it possible. It gives you a good feeling to see everyone enjoying themselves and having a supportive community, and sense of belonging. We also bring people in from other communities too to participate which is great as well. It is a good event full of activities for families.”

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