Bangor fair adapts to changing tastes Fewer farming exhibits a sign of the times

BANGOR – While a crowd assembled Sunday at the Bangor State Fair to watch BMX bike riders launch themselves off a ramp during a midafternoon stunt show, a few 4-H children dressed sharply in khakis and white shirts paraded their cows around a small dirt arena before a scattering of onlookers.

The agricultural exhibits and displays at the fair are a bit off the beaten path, beginning in a gully behind the Bass Park grandstand and continuing up a hill to the horse and cow barns.

The crowds are noticeably thinner there, where a lone fried clam vendor serves as the agricultural area’s only source of oily food and cool drinks.

“Of all the fairs we go to, this one’s the least agricultural,” Amy Bishop of Kenduskeag said Sunday under the shade of the cow barn as she worked to raise money for the 11 members of Next Generation 4-H Club.

“Older people and younger people want to see the animals,” but not many in between, Bishop said.

The dwindling number of both participants and fans at the agricultural exhibits is a sign of change at the fair, now in its 156th year. As the number of Mainers who farm and raise animals for a living dwindles, so do the crowds.

Fair organizers, however, say they are working to preserve the agricultural element of the fair, as well as adapt to the presence of an off-track betting operation.

“The whole agricultural industry is changing in this state,” Bass Park Director Mike Dyer said Sunday. “We’re just becoming an urbanized society.”

Fair organizers are working to make the agricultural exhibits more visible, Dyer said. The popular BMX display, which also features in-line skaters and skateboarders, was placed behind the grandstand in hopes of attracting fairgoers to exhibits such as those of the Eastern Maine Rabbit Breeders Association, he said.

“The hope is they’ll turn around and see what’s behind them and wander over,” Dyer said.

About 50 people milled around the rabbit exhibit, where about 25 breeds were for sale or on display. Signs warned people not to put their fingers inside the animals’ cages, with “Band-Aids 25 cents each” scrawled in black marker on the bottom of the bright orange notices.

The fair’s open exhibit categories of needlework, crafts, flowers and foods have been replaced by craft demonstrations, and the OTB beneath the grandstand has displaced other open exhibits.

Besides the OTB, Penn National Gaming Inc. also has plans for a racino in Bangor, possibly at Bass Park. The company must provide the city two years’ notice and $1 million to use the area, but has not yet made a request, according to city officials.

Dyer’s not worried about it.

“We have no reason to think that the fair won’t be here for years to come,” he said.

Cindy and Chris Henderson of Rumford said they enjoy both aspects of the fair, the agricultural exhibits as well as the rides and food.

Their children, 3-year-old Abigail and 1-year-old Cameron, had a great time, the couple said early Sunday evening as they walked to their car.

“We’ll be back next year,” Chris Henderson said.