Salt Spring Island Fall Fair

The Salt Spring Island Fall Fair is a beloved Gulf Islands tradition — a genuine, old-fashioned country fair that has celebrated island life and the autumn harvest for well over a century. Held on the grounds of the Farmers' Institute, it gathers Salt Spring's famously creative and self-sufficient community for a weekend of friendly competition, homegrown pride and small-town fun that feels a world away from the mainland.

This is the fair at its most authentic: prize livestock and farm animals, tables heaped with local produce, preserves, baking and flowers, and hall after hall of homegrown crafts, art and needlework entered by islanders young and old. Around the exhibits you will find live entertainment, demonstrations, food, and the easy, welcoming atmosphere the Southern Gulf Islands are known for. It is a wonderful window into the culture that makes Salt Spring special — the same community of small farms, makers, potters and growers behind the island's famous Saturday market. Getting there is part of the experience: Salt Spring is a short, scenic BC Ferries hop from Vancouver Island or the mainland, and a fair weekend pairs perfectly with a slow island getaway of studios, farm stands, hikes and harbour villages. Bring cash for the vendors and the bake table, plan your ferry ahead on a busy weekend, and give yourself time to wander. Check the fair's site for this year's dates, schedule and admission.