Topsfield Fair 2026: Your Guide to New England's Great Eleven-Day Fair
2026 dates: Friday, October 2 – Monday, October 12. The Topsfield Fair runs eleven days at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, 207 Boston Street, Topsfield, Massachusetts. Check the official site for current hours and admission.
Most New England fairs give you a long weekend. The Topsfield Fair gives you eleven days — and it has been doing some version of this since the Essex Agricultural Society held its first cattle show on October 5, 1820.
That lineage is the thing to understand about Topsfield. This is not a fair that was built around a midway and later added some animals. It started as a cattle show, travelled around Essex County for roughly a century, and settled permanently in Topsfield in 1910. The Society still owns and operates it, and still runs the Northeast Harvest buy-local program for Essex and Middlesex counties alongside it.
When and where
The fair runs October 2 through October 12, 2026 at the Topsfield Fairgrounds on Boston Street in Topsfield, on Massachusetts' North Shore.
Gate hours and admission are set by the fair and can change year to year. Check the official Topsfield Fair website for current hours, pricing, and the daily schedule before you travel.
The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off
If Topsfield is famous for one thing, it is the All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, first hosted here in 1984. It is the event that put the fair on the national map, and in 2012 the Topsfield scales recorded the world's first one-ton pumpkin.
It is worth planning around. Competitive growers spend an entire season on a single fruit, and the weigh-off is the moment all of that lands — part agricultural competition, part spectacle, genuinely unlike anything else on the New England circuit.
What else is there
Eleven days is a lot of fair, and the program spreads accordingly:
Farm animals and competitive exhibits. The agricultural core the fair was founded on — livestock, and the judged exhibits that have been the point of an agricultural society since 1820.
The midway. Rides and games, on the scale you would expect from a fair that runs for a week and a half.
Live music. Performances run through the fair's eleven days.
Food. The full range of New England fair eating. If you want to plan your eating in advance, our New England fair food bucket list is a reasonable place to start.
Planning your visit
Pick your day deliberately. An eleven-day run means the crowd profile varies enormously. Weekend days are the busiest; a weekday visit is a different fair.
Dress for October on the North Shore. Warm afternoons and cold evenings in the same visit is normal. Our seasonal guide to what to wear at a New England fair covers the specifics.
Bringing kids? See our roundup of the best New England fairs for families.
Check the schedule before you go. Competitive events and performances happen at set times. The fair publishes its daily schedule on the official site.
Q: When is the Topsfield Fair 2026?
The Topsfield Fair runs Friday, October 2 through Monday, October 12, 2026 — eleven days at the Topsfield Fairgrounds in Topsfield, Massachusetts.
Q: Where is the Topsfield Fair held?
At the Topsfield Fairgrounds, 207 Boston Street, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983, on the state's North Shore.
Q: How much does Topsfield Fair admission cost?
The fair sets admission each year and had not published 2026 gate pricing in a source we could verify at the time of writing. Check topsfieldfair.org for current admission and parking information.
Q: Who runs the Topsfield Fair?
The Essex Agricultural Society owns and operates the fair, and has since its first cattle show on October 5, 1820. The Society also rents the fairgrounds year-round and runs the Northeast Harvest buy-local program.
Q: What is the Topsfield Fair known for?
The All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, first hosted at Topsfield in 1984. In 2012 the fair was the site of the world's first one-ton pumpkin.
Related reading
- Massachusetts Fairs & Festivals in 2026: Your Complete Guide
- New England Fair Season 2026: Your Guide to the Best Fairs, Festivals and Shows
- Craft Fairs vs. Agricultural Fairs in New England: What's the Difference
Last updated: September 2026
