Fair & Festival Glossary
Fair programmes assume you already know what a premium book is, or which building the exhibition hall is. These are the terms as they are actually used in Massachusetts, with the fairs where you will meet them.
- MidwayThe carnival strip of rides, games, and food vendors alongside a fair's exhibits.
- GrandstandThe fixed seating structure facing a fair's arena for pulling, derbies, and racing.
- Agricultural fairA fair organized around farming, livestock, and rural craft, not rides or spectacle.
- 4-HA youth agricultural program delivered in Massachusetts through UMass Extension.
- Premium bookA fair's printed rulebook of entry classes, judging criteria, and cash prizes.
- Exhibition hallThe indoor building where judged crafts, produce, and baked goods go on display.
- ShowmanshipA judged class scoring how well a handler presents an animal, not the animal itself.
- Pulling (truck, tractor, or oxen)A grandstand contest where oxen, tractors, or trucks drag a weighted sled for distance.
- Demolition derbyA grandstand event where drivers crash cars until only one still runs.
- Harness racingA grandstand race where a horse pulls a two-wheeled sulky cart around a track.
- Agricultural societyThe chartered nonprofit that owns a fairgrounds and runs the fair itself.
- Cattle showA judged contest that scores cattle against a breed standard, not the handler.
- FairgroundsThe physical site, grandstand, halls, and midway lot, where a fair is held.
- Gate admissionThe fee to enter a fairgrounds, separate from food, games, or ride costs.
- Midway wristbandA separately priced pass for unlimited midway rides during a set time block.
- GrangeA local chapter of the National Grange, a farm fraternal order that still runs fairs.