• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Alert

ALERT: Update on Maintenance and Upgrades at Central Library More Info

Home - Arlington County Virginia - Logo
MENUMENU
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • My Checkouts
    • My Holds
    • My Lists
    • My Reading History
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
    • Library News
    • Director's Blog
    • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Search
  • Collections
  • Services
  • Events
  • Explore
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
    • Library Blog
    • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us

The First Arlington County Fair

Post Published: January 15, 2020

For over 40 years the Arlington County Fair has been an important community event in both the County and Northern Virginia.

Arlington held its first County Fair in 1977, led by a nonprofit, all-volunteer group, which organized and operated the event.

Floyd Hawkins, who at the age of 81 helped start the Arlington County Fair, and served as the Fair’s treasurer for 10 years, from 1977 to 1987.

Floyd Hawkins, who at the age of 81 helped start the Arlington County Fair, and served as the Fair’s treasurer for 10 years, from 1977 to 1987.
The Center for Local History conducted an oral history interview with Hawkins in 1986.

Harvest Day

The idea for the Fair emerged from the County’s community gardens program. Resident gardeners had been planning a Harvest Day to display the produce from the program’s 10 community garden plots. One thing led to another, and the idea expanded to involve more members of the Arlington community.

The First Arlington County Fair

The inaugural Arlington County Fair began on Friday, August 26, 1977, at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center. It started with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon and ended at 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 28.

It was noted at the time that Arlington's fair was the only event of this type held between Gaithersburg, MD, and Manassas, VA. It was also billed as one of the country's rare “urban fairs” – combining the elements of a traditional county fair in an urban setting. Anticipation for the Fair brewed around this melding of the new and old, as one reporter noted in an August 25, 1977 Washington Post preview:

“Where can an exceptional chrysanthemum raised on the tenth-floor balcony of the Crystal House apartment complex in Arlington receive its just due? Until this week, nowhere. However, if entered before 9 a.m. Friday it could be a blue-ribbon winner in the First Annual Arlington County Fair.”

Among the activities at the first Arlington County Fair were ribbon competitions in home arts, preserving, crafts, cake decorating, produce, flower arranging, individual flowers, paints, photography, sculpture, clothing, and baked goods. Also featured were exhibits and demonstrations of arts and crafts, as well as booths from groups such as the Arlington Office of Consumer Affairs and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The Arlington County Fair, according to Ware Page - the first chairman and a local freelancer in consulting and advertising - was designed to appeal to the diversity of Arlington’s population:

“Our fair is unique. It will reflect Arlington’s pluralistic nature. There will be religious groups, business interests, local gardeners, charity and community groups all under one roof.”

While there was a limited livestock showing at the event – two pigs, two sheep, and two goats imported from the 4-H club in Loudoun county – there was plenty of flora and fauna to go around. About 270 families were farming loaned plots established by the community garden program, and many of them participated in activities.

Like today, entrance to the first Arlington County Fair was free, and a variety of items were available for purchase among the many booths and vendors. But another important element of the typical rural fair (and today's County Fair) was missing in 1977 - a midway.

County Fair 4
County Fair 5

Excerpts from the compilation of winning recipes from the baked goods competition, 1981 Arlington County Fair.

County 2 Photo

Arlington County Fair "premium booklets" from 1983 and 1988 include information about shuttle buses, competitions and schedules.

Rapid Growth in the 1980s

By 1983, only five years after the Arlington County Fair began, more than 200 booths and exhibitors were registered to exhibit over the Fair weekend. By 1984, the live entertainment boasted a diverse range of performers including a ventriloquist, the Old Dominion Cloggers, barbershop quartet music by the Arlingtones, bluegrass, jazz, big band music, and Hungarian folk songs. Karate demonstrations and aerobic dancing were also performed.

Livestock Out, Thrill Rides In

Livestock mostly ceased making any appearances after 1977, with a few exceptions (such as pony rides and racing piglets). Midway rides were added in later years.

County Fair 6

The Thomas Jefferson Community Center, where the Arlington County Fair has taken place since 1977.

"Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow"

The Arlington County Fair has become one of the largest free events on the East Coast, with attendance reaching over 84,000.

After the first few years, each County Fair has had a theme: “Arlington – Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow” (1986); “The Many Faces of Arlington” (2003); “Groovy Since 1977” (2016), which payed tribute to the County Fair’s origins, are just a few.

What will this year's theme be? We'll find out this summer when we see you at the County Fair!

To learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? 

Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

Center For Local History - Blog Post Message Form

Do you have a question about this story, or a personal experience to share? Use this form to send a message to the Center for Local History.

"*" indicates required fields

Share Your Story

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

January 15, 2020 by Web Editor

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marsha says

    January 24, 2020 at 8:10 AM

    I love the local history articles from the weekly Inside Arlington emails! It’s a fascinating bit of Arlington history, and I always look forward to reading it. I love seeing the old photos of the area. Keep up the good work!

Primary Sidebar


Charlie Clark Center for Local History: Where Stories Live


Link to blog post.

Appreciating Arlington Educator Katherine Mosley Ross


Link to blog post.

Sharing the Love: Edmond and Alice Fleet


Photo of Ms. and Mr. Bozman.

Ellen M. Bozman at 100


A group of eight people stands together on a small stage in front of large windows, smiling at the camera. They hold two framed items—one is a historical document with maps and text, and the other is a framed portrait of a bearded man. Colorful blue, green, and yellow balloons decorate the space above them, celebrating Glencarlyn Library's 101st birthday.

Glencarlyn Library’s 101st Birthday


Read more blog posts from the Center for Local History


Charlie Clark Center for Local History


The Charlie Clark Center for Local History (CCCLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Librarians and archivists develop collections of unique research material and make them available for use by residents, students, teachers, genealogists, scholars, authors, journalists and anyone interested in learning more about Arlington County.

Footer

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Charlie Clark Center for Local History
  • News Room
  • Get Email Updates

Administration

  • Policies
  • Library Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • Propose a Program or Partnership

Support Your Library

  • Friends of the Library
  • Giving Opportunities
  • Donating Materials
  • Volunteer Opportunities

Our Mission

We champion the power of stories, information and ideas.

We create space for culture and connection.

We embrace inclusion and diverse points of view.
























Download the Library App

Download the Library App

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | Site Map
· Copyright © 2025 Arlington County Government ·