Common Ground Country Fair is back after the Pandemic

Published: Sep. 23, 2022 at 5:50 PM EDT

UNITY, Maine (WABI) - Over 60,000 people are expected to be at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity this year. They are kicking off their 46th annual event Friday and it is all about celebrating rural living.

“It was originally started in 1977 as a way to come together. Celebrate the harvest, eat food together, break bread and really come together as a community. And that continues today with over 2000 volunteers,” said April Boucher, the director of the fair.

The volunteers are helping with various tasks including helping the crowd navigate their way through the over 400 vendors at the event. They are selling organic vegetables, fresh milk and other items.

One of the largest attractions at the fair is the Common Ground shirt. Dozens line up for the collectable, including Tina Soucie who is looking to continue the tradition for her 6-year-old grandson.

“We get one for him every year, so he has collected them, so this is a big thing to stand in line like everyone else,” Soucie said.

Boucher says the shirts are important and can serves as a connecting factor.

“As we get closer and closer to the event, people start wearing their shirts. You’ll see them out at the co-op. You’ll see them potentially at the DMV and it strikes up a conversation like, oh, I learned how to save my own seeds or Oh, did you try that? You know, Italian sausage. It was so wonderful.”

Let’s not forget the food, livestock or live entertainment. It is all part of bringing people together to celebrate one another after not having a fair since 2019 due to the pandemic.

“its a great way to come out, learn something kind of get that reinvigoration, see people, just get reinvigorated and reacquainted with the community, after after so long,” Boucher said.