{"id":17877,"date":"2025-07-08T15:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expolachutefair.com\/?page_id=17877"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:26:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:26:50","slug":"our-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/expolachutefair.com\/en\/our-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Our story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n History of our exhibition<\/span>\n\t\t\t\nBrief history of our exhibition <\/h2>\n\t\t <\/div>\n \n \n\n \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Lachute agricultural exhibition\u00a0\u00a0is the oldest\u00a0\u00a0fair in Quebec and the second oldest in Canada. This year, we will be celebrating our 200th edition.<\/p>

In the years 1825 and 1826, meetings of the inhabitants of the county of\u00a0\u00a0York met in the then bustling business centre of St. Andrews, to form themselves into a Society to be called \u201cThe county of York Agricultural society\u201d, later to the Two Mountains Agricultural Society and finally to the county of Argenteuil Agricultural Society, the object of which being to improve the mode of Agriculture in the county is every means in their power.<\/p>

From its beginnings until 1924, the exhibition was held around the third weekend in September, emphasizing agricultural production.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n \n \n\n \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Year of Confederation, 1867 saw the classes filled to capacity with exhibits of materials\u00a0\u00a0of wool ready to be spun, dressed flannel blankets, fancy work and linen, with many classes\u00a0\u00a0of wheat, rye, flax, barley, white beans and peas in the crop section with apples, pears, grapes, butter and cheese displayed in abundance. With the cost of living going up all the time it was decided in 1879 that a charge of 10\u00a2 be levied for entrance to the Fall Exhibition. The dawning of a new year, 1883 brought with it the question that had been plaguing the Society for a number of years, \u201cWhere to establish a permanent site for the Exhibition?\u201d Three sites were chosen, St. Andrews Village, on or near Lachute Village, and in Chatham.\u00a0\u00a0A number of offers were made, however, the village of Lachute was decided upon as the central point of the County, it is also being served by the Railway. The matter couldn\u2019t be settled amicably until finally in 1886, a Company called the Agricultural Permanent Exhibition Company of the county of Argenteuil procured land from Mr. Henry Hammond in the Township of Chatham, near the Village of Lachute.<\/p>

Gradually the shares of the Company were acquired by the Society and the land was purchased to hold the Exhibition permanently in Lachute. 1917 saw the construction of the grandstand and the track, with new cow and horse barns being constructed as time and money allowed. The Fall Fair was changed to a Spring Fair in 1925 so that it could be deemed strictly a Livestock show. Today the Expo Lachute Fair is an annual event, and will be held in the first 2 weeks of July.<\/p>

The fall of 1967 saw the end of a tradition and a meeting place over many years when the main building was destroyed by fire.<\/p>

In 1985, the heavy horse barn was built. Storrs McCall donated generously towards the construction of the new dairy barn which was built in 1994. In September of 1996, work started on covering the grandstand.<\/p>

With hard work and dedication from the directors of the Argenteuil Agricultural Society and all the volunteers and sponsors, we hope our 199th annual fair will bring enjoyment to all who attend.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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