whirlingderby

Othercat presents The Royal Winter Fair
     
The Royal Winter Fair is a great Canadian Institution. It is celebrated annually at Toronto's Exhibition Place and occupies the nearly 1 million square feet of the National Convention Center. It's the pinnacle of all the fall fairs and draws exhibitors and visitors from all over North America and the world. In spite of it's size it lacks the usual hubbub of the fall fair. This event is purely a showcase of the best agriculture that Canada produces. There is none of the clamour of a midway here. It's serious business at the Royal Winter Fair.

Canadienne


A Canadienne


The cow you see above is an example of some of the seriousness I write of. The Canadienne is a rare beast with only 250 registered breeding females. When you think of the millions of cattle in Canada alone, 250 is not a large number. The pressures of growing cattle quickly and economically has marginalized once popular breeds to the point where they're rare and possibly endangered. It takes a special bunch of people to recognize these things and do something about it. I know I don't think much about the hard work that farmers do, and all of a sudden, a reminder like this comes along. This rare cow should make you think a bit about the love and strength you need to successfully work the land.


Jim petting a sheep


Jim makes a new friend


     Of course it's not all serious. My pal Jim managed to make a new friend. There were hundreds of children visiting the fair, and it was wonderful to see the looks on their faces. Most city folks don't have many encounters with the country life, and the Royal Winter Fair is one occasion when the two meet head on.


A Prize Leghorn


A Prize Winning Leghorn

One of my favourite parts of the fair is the poultry display. I always get a real charge out of the prize chickens. If you've never met a real live chicken, you're missing out on a lot. They are not very bright creatures, but what they lack in intelligence, they make up in colour and bravura. The plumage makes you think of the overdressed glam rockers from the 1970's. The leghorn in particular is quite a colourful bird and is inclined to sound off at the slightest provocation. This fellow was quite noisy and likely agitated to be caged and in the company of so many other roosters.

Most of the animals are not as agitated as the leghorn pictured above. The horses and some of the cattle are almost as intrigued as the humans are by the whole affair. One horse was quite outgoing, and had no qualms about coming out of his stall to inspect the humans. He didn't need to be bribed with a cube of sugar or a carrot. He was quite happy to just make contact with all the city slickers. The city and the country don't often see eye to eye, but the Royal Winter Fair is one occasion where it happens in a big way.

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