Harvest Home Fair in Cincinnati, Ohio

The 147th annual Harvest Home Fair, a long-standing Cincinnati tradition, will take place September 7-10, 2006. The Harvest Home Fair, nicknamed "the Biggest Little Fair in Ohio," is held in Cincinnati's west-side neighborhood of Cheviot at Harvest Home Park. A parade marks the start of the Harvest Home Fair on Thursday, September 7, at 6 p.m., and festivities continue throughout the weekend.

Lots to See and Enjoy

The theme of the 2006 fair is "Bicentennial Harvest Home." Visitors to the fair will have the opportunity to take part in typical fair events, such as the children's petting farm, 4-H livestock auction, games, rides, music, and lots of food and drink. The fair also features a flower show, art show, automobile display, pet show, and a 5K walk/run. One game unique to the Harvest Home Fair is the "mouse game," in which players place bets on mice that run down colored holes.

New attractions this year will be a rodeo, held during the Sunday horse show; an open-air sports bar with wide-screen TVs; and the combining of the musical performances from two stages to one.

The Thursday evening parade that kicks off the Harvest Home Fair is a two-hour event, featuring 10 high school marching bands, 50 floats, and up to 5,000 people lining the parade route to watch the annual event. The parade starts at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 7, at the intersection of Harrison and Frances Avenues, and ends at the fairgrounds at Harvest Home Park.

One of the traditions of the parade involves the many lawn chairs that people position at "their spot" curbside the day before the parade in order to stake their claim for prime parade viewing spots. It's simply an unwritten rule - and a charming one - that the chairs placed along the parade route on Harrison and North Bend Avenues will remain where they are, undisturbed overnight and unoccupied by anyone but the chairs' rightful owners.

Years of History

The Harvest Home Fair's official start was in 1860, but its unofficial beginnings were 50 years earlier, when farmer Enoch Carson held a picnic for his family and the other settlers to give thanks for their abundant first harvest in the area known as Green Township. Soon, the Green Township Agricultural Society was formed to hold the now-annual festival on Carson's farm from 1855 to 1859. In 1860, the newly organized Green Township Harvest Home Association continued the festival yearly until 1939.

In 1939, the Harvest Home Fair was taken over by the Kiwanis Club of Cheviot-Westwood, who have organized the annual event since then. The Kiwanis have used proceeds from the fair to fund over $2 million in local community projects, including road paving and tornado relief as well as a hospital's breast-imaging center.

The 147th Harvest Home Fair takes place September 7-10 at Harvest Home Park, 3961 North Bend Rd., Cheviot. Admission is $5; children 12 and under get in free. Information: www.harvesthomefair.com.