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 strip of carnival rides, games and food stands beside a fair's exhibits.
- GrandstandThe roofed seating that faces a fair's arena or track.
- Agricultural fairA fair built around farming, livestock and rural craft.
- 4-HA youth agricultural program delivered in Massachusetts through UMass Extension.
- Premium bookA fair's rulebook of entry classes, judging criteria and prizes.
- Exhibition hallThe indoor building where judged crafts, produce and baked goods go on display.
- ShowmanshipA judged class that scores how well a handler presents an animal.
- 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.
- Cattle showA judged contest that scores cattle against a breed standard.
- FairgroundsThe site where a fair is held: grandstand, halls, barns and midway lot.
- Gate admissionThe fee to enter a fairgrounds, separate from food, games and rides.
- 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.
- CarnivalA multi-day community celebration built around a parade, performance and costume.