ALTAMONT — There is more to the Altamont Fair than the midway.

The roots of the tri-county fair — serving Albany, Schenectady, and Greene counties — are agricultural, and fair spokeswoman Pat Canaday feels those roots are more important today than when the fair was founded over a century ago.

“We’re hoping to expose people to things they may not normally see,” Canaday told The Enterprise this week as the fair prepares to open on Aug. 15 for a six-day run.

Many people, she said, don’t know where their food comes from. They may watch a National Geographic special on TV or see videos of animals on YouTube but that is different than being in one of the fair’s barns and seeing sheep or goats or chickens or horses or cows up close.

“People don’t know how big cows are till they stand right next to one,” said Canaday.

The farm kids that come to the barns with their animals are well acquainted with them. It’s not unusual to see a teen lying in the straw next to her cow, leaning back against it as she texts.

Canaday grew up in suburban Westmere, attending the Altamont Fair sporadically as a kid but the fair didn’t become an important part of her life until she was an adult.

“I was never in 4-H,” she said, and so didn’t raise animals and display them at the fair.

Canaday started going to the sheep barn when she had sheep, and the late Don Otterness, a well known Guilderland shepherd and teacher, eventually asked her to be the building’s superintendent.

“I just jumped in,” said Canaday.

The late Reid Northrup led the fair at the time. “He was so supportive of sharing agriculture with the public,” Canaday said. “With the shrinking farm community, people often don’t know where their food comes from.”

Canaday became a member of the fair association and eventually a director.

What sustains her work? 

“I love to see the kids when their eyes get big as saucers, when they see animals they haven’t seen before,” she said. “It’s a look of wonderment.”

She went on, “We keep getting further away from touching our own food … It’s easy to be divorced from realities.”

The fair offers lots of events and activities geared toward families with young children.

A baby animal area, between the Circus Museum and the Ag Building, lets children see goslings, kids as in baby goats, ducklings, young quail, and more — all up close.

After becoming literate in the look of young animals, the visitors can become literally literate by attending the nearby Books in the Barnyard readings. The libraries in Altamont, Voorheesville, and Westerlo are hosting story times at the fair.

“They’ll hear a book about agriculture from someone sitting on a hay bale,” said Canaday.

Each child will receive a copy of the book read that day, including titles such as “Too Many Carrots” and “Click, Clack, Goodnight!”

The fair also offers opportunities for kids to learn about agriculture by make-believe play. They can harvest pretend apples from a tree or collect eggs from under stuffed chickens.

An Ag Awareness Trail works like a scavenger hunt where clues are provided to help the scavengers find answers.

“You go from building to building in the agriculture area to talk to a farmer,” said Canaday.

Forms for the hunt are available every day at the Arts & Crafts center or Farmhouse Museum. Dropped off at the same location, the hunter gets a goody bag and a chance to win a prize.

The agricultural education at the fair blends the old and the new, said Canaday. On the historic side are a blacksmith museum and a museum of antique farm machinery.

“And the folks at the Grange always have exhibits, and peach pie and cobbler,” said Canaday. They also sell, at reasonable prices, items they have handcrafted from baby booties and bonnets to dish towels with crocheted handles.

On the modern side, said Canaday, are wine slushies and, new this year, alcohol-infused ice cream.

“I think we have a great blend of history and keeping up with today’s world,” she said.

Prices

When it comes to pricing at the fair, Canaday said, “It’s a big year for change.”

Formerly, the price of admission included the midway rides.

“Over the years, we found a lot of people were choosing not to go to the fair because they didn’t want to pay for the rides,” she said.

So this year, the Dreamland Amusements Midway is selling tickets separately. A wristband ordered online in advance, admitting the wearer to any ride, costs $25 or $30 if purchased at the fair.

Tickets for rides can also be purchased in sheets from kiosks on the midway, Canaday said. For example, 50 tickets costs $60 or 20 tickets cost $30. “That gives families a lot more flexibility,” said Canaday.

A single ticket costs $1.50, and small rides require three tickets.

The Ferris wheel this year is 110 feet high, which Canaday said is 30 or 40 feet taller than in previous years. “You’ll be able to see beyond the Helderbergs,” she said.

Some of the popular returning rides include the Himalaya and the Scrambler, and, for the younger set, bumper cars and a carousel.

Admission, too, is changing. “We really cut the prices dramatically,” said Canaday.

Most days, admission, including parking, is $13. (Last year, tickets cost $22.)

But, on opening day, Tuesday, Aug. 15, admission is free for anyone shorter than 36 inches tall, and is $5 for anyone taller than a yard high.

For Wednesday, Aug. 16, through Sunday, Aug. 20, kids ages 10 and under are admitted for free.

On Wednesday, admission is free for veterans and active military personnel, for people age 65 and older, and for all Grange members.

Besides all the animal barns and agricultural displays and museums, much is free to fair-goers.

This includes the Royal Hanneford Circus with shows daily at noon and again at 3 and 7 p.m.; a BMX stunt show, racing pigs, sharks swimming in a tank, motorcycle stunt shows, hypnotist Michael Deshalit, and a demolition derby on Sunday.

“The demolition derby is a big draw,” said Canaday. “I think it’s fun to see people crash things up without getting hurt.”

Music and arts

Bands, free with admission, will perform every day in two venues on the fairgrounds: on the Reid Northrup Memorial Stage in the Grove and at the Main Line Tap Room.

Performances, listed with times and locations on the fair’s website, include the Erin Harkes Band, Jordan Stoner, the Playin’ with Fire Band, Geezer, Aquanett, Grand Central Station, Jack Kelle,  and Ethan Crowley.

“I love the old rock ’n’ roll; I love the country … I can tap my foot to anything,” said Canaday.

The Flower and Fine Arts Building, with its cathedral-like setting, will display the work of local artists and photographers as well as home-grown flowers and vegetables.

“We’ve expanded to include kids’ artwork; there are so many budding artists out there,” said Canaday.

Winners in the Miss Altamont Fair Pageant, chosen on Opening Day in the Dutch Barn, will be strolling throughout the grounds during Fair Week.

On Friday, at 2 p.m., members of the Miss Altamont Fair Court will help kids make “Backyard Bug” snacks in the Blue Ribbon Cooking Center.

While most entrants in the cooking competitions had to sign up ahead of Fair Week, Canaday noted a number of walk-in competitions, including a mac-and-cheese competition on Wednesday, a cooking-with-maple syrup contest on Thursday, and a summer salad competition on Friday.

On Saturday, the first eight children who show up at 2 p.m. will have a chance to decorate candies; then, at 6 p.m., there will be a pie-eating contest

Many of the food competitions involve home-grown ingredients, and on Sunday there will be a demonstration at noon on canning fruits.

“We’re encouraging people to be healthy,” said Canaday.