This year’s New Ipswich Children’s Fair will be the 160th in the town’s history – and the first true incarnation since 2019, after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the event last year.
A version of the fair was put on last summer to make up for the loss, with a calendar raffle put on by the committee. But for the co-chair of the fair’s planning committee, Linda Kivela, it wasn’t the same.
“It’s nice to be back into a routine,” she said, after doing smaller activities last August “just to keep the fair alive.”
The best news, Kivela said, is that the community is excited for the fair.
“It’s just really nice for people to be able to get out and see each other,” she said. “And it’s kind of like a homecoming, a lot of people plan to come back to New Ipswich or surrounding towns that day.”
In the past, she said, people and organizations plan other events around the fair, with the event acting as an anchor for people to gather. In past years, it has drawn about 2,000 people.
There haven’t been many changes to the fair itself due to COVID-19, but one change this year is the elimination of the auction and white elephant event at the fair, which Kivela said was due to a lack of good items in recent years.
Because of this, the stage area is freed up for a food court, with all of the vendors offering food grouped in the same area this year.
“I think people are really looking forward to it,” Kivela said.
The Children’s Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday on the grounds of the New Ipswich Congregational Church on Main Street.