Topsfield Fair

The Topsfield Fair fills the Topsfield Fairgrounds on Route 1 for eleven days in October, run by the non-profit Essex Agricultural Society. Its animal program includes a Beekeeping and Honey Show the organizer bills as the largest at any fair in North America, with honey entered since 1844, an Open Sheep Show of more than 300 sheep, dairy goat shows, a poultry show with a hatchery where chicks hatch through the fair, and more than 200 rabbits. The Arena hosts horse and oxen pulling, sheep dog trials, a stock tractor pull and a draft horse show that includes the North American Six Horse Hitch Championship, and the final day ends with Figure 8 racing and a Demolition Derby. The fair is also home to the All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, held since 1984, where the world's first one-ton pumpkin weighed in in 2012; the 2026 winner weighed 2,598 pounds.

The 2027 fair runs October 1 to 11; daily hours and 2027 prices are still to be announced. In 2026 pre-fair admission was $15 for any day, seniors paid $10 on Senior Citizen Days, children under 8 were free with an adult, and all grandstand shows were free with admission. Parking was $15 in the fair lots, free on opening Friday, with weekend shuttles from Fair-View Farm on Route 1 North. Fiesta Shows runs the midway, and a train, shuttle and admission package from Boston is sold through Keolis massAdventures on some days.