At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, October 7, the hunter show opens in the Tim Horton Ring at the Simcoe Fairgrounds. The Edge Motorsports Destruction Demolition Derby starts eleven hours later, at 7 p.m. Both events happen at the same fair, on the same grounds and on the same admission ticket. They draw on entirely different schedules.
The Norfolk County Agricultural Society says the fair brings in more than 110,000 visitors a year and has run for more than 185 years. Its full name is the Norfolk County Fair & Horse Show, and in 2026 the second half of that name is a seven-day competition, running Tuesday, October 6 through Monday, October 12. Several of its classes count toward provincial standings. Most of it starts in the morning.
The Week, Read Across Both Clocks
The organizer publishes the horse show and the evening grandstand separately, in a prize book and on a motorsports and concerts page. The table puts the two side by side.
| Day | Rings and barns, daytime | Grandstand, evening |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Oct 6 | Holstein Show, 10:30 a.m.; Youth & Hoof fun show, 1 p.m. | FMX World Tour, 7 p.m. |
| Wed, Oct 7 | Hunter, 8 a.m., Tim Horton Ring | Edge Motorsports Demolition Derby, 7 p.m. |
| Thu, Oct 8 | Jumper, 9 a.m., Tim Horton Ring | Monster Madness, 7 p.m. |
| Fri, Oct 9 | Combined Heavy Horse and breed shows | Party on the Track with Alli Walker and Tim Hicks |
| Sat, Oct 10 | Heavy horse shows continue; Sheep Show, 9 a.m., Livestock Barn | Party on the Track with Trooper and Finger Eleven |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Western, 9 a.m.; Registered Miniatures, 9:30 a.m.; Team Horse Pull, 12:30 p.m.; Beef Cattle, 1 p.m. | OTTPA "Grand Daddy" Tractor Pull, 7 p.m. |
| Mon, Oct 12 | Registered Haflingers, 8:30 a.m.; Norfolk 4-H Dairy Calf Show, 11 a.m. | Edge Motorsports Demolition Derby, 6 p.m. |
Sunday is the only day with the same kind of contest on both clocks. Teams of horses pull at 12:30 p.m., and tractors pull at 7 p.m. in front of the grandstand.
The organizer's daily-schedule pages still link to 2025 programs. For 2026, the 2026 prize books posted in late August are the reliable source for ring times.
Midweek in the Tim Horton Ring
The Wednesday and Thursday programs are built as a progression. Hunter day covers hack classes, hunter over fences and hunter under saddle at 2 feet, 2 feet 3 inches and 2 feet 6 inches. On Thursday the jumper rounds go up in height from .65 metres to .75 and .90, then 1 metre, and the day ends with the Clifford G. Hare Memorial Modified Grand Prix. The winner takes $800.
Local businesses fund these divisions. Brubacher's Harness Supplies and Tack Shop donates the Hunter and Jumper division-champion prizes, and Twinholm Design sponsors the High Point Champion award for each show. Roy Fish chairs the Hunter and Jumper competitions.
On Tuesday afternoon, Youth & Hoof opens the week with classes far from Thursday's grand prix: lead line, walk-jog, barrels, pole bending, "The Judge Says" and a costume class. Diane Cooper chairs it. Tuesday is also Young Canada Day, when every student gets in free.
Friday and Saturday Carry the Biggest Stakes
The fair's largest prize money and most of its provincial points come on the two concert days. The Combined Heavy Horse show for Belgians, Clydesdales and Percherons runs Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10. The Six Horse Hitch pays $1,200 to first place. It is judged 50 percent on conformation, 25 percent on equipment and 25 percent on driving, and the rules require two adults on the wagon during competition.
Ontario Four Horse Hitch classes run on both days, with $525 to the winner. They are qualifying classes for 2027 and open only to members in good standing of the Ontario Four. The Belgian program doubles as the Western Ontario Regional Belgian Show, which is a qualifying show for the Ontario Belgian Horse Association. Teams in the Simcoe ring that weekend are earning standing in provincial series that run past this fair.
The same two days include classes that are lighter in tone:
- Lady Driver Competition, judged 75 percent on driving ability and 25 percent on dress and appearance
- Four Abreast, with four draft horses hitched side by side to one wagon
- Draft Horse Barrel Race, held in the Tim Horton Ring, with helmets and saddles required
- Junior Cart Obstacle Course for 2- and 3-year-old horses, on a course posted the day of the show
- Combined Unicorn Championship, open to the top two Unicorn Hitch finishers from each of the three breed divisions
The exhibitor who scores the most points across the Belgian, Percheron and Clydesdale shows wins the $300 Model Farm Award as Grand Champion Heavy Horse Exhibitor. A 15 percent "Fair Share" is deducted from listed prizes. Karen Hayward is the contact for the Combined Heavy Horse show and chairs the Western Ontario Regional Belgian Show.
On Saturday the Sheep Show starts judging at 9 a.m. in the Livestock Barn. Saturday also has a new name this year. Nova Mutual Insurance has signed on as the fair's presenting sponsor in a five-year partnership, and Saturday is officially Nova Mutual Day. General manager Angela Hogeveen told Norfolk Today that adding the sponsor to the logo prompted the fair to refresh its whole visual identity.
Concert tickets on both nights include fair admission. Reserved seats are $35, 19+ trackside admission is $75 and VIP is $140. Since the ticket covers the gate, it also covers the hitch classes earlier in the day.
Sunday Is the Fullest Day in the Rings
Sunday, October 11 has the most daytime events of the week. The Western show starts at 9 a.m. "sharp," in the prize book's words, with showmanship, lead line, barrels, hunt-seat equitation, trail, Western pleasure and stakes classes. Registered Miniatures follow at 9:30 a.m. with halter, costume, obstacle, barrels and pleasure-driving classes, finishing with mare, stallion, gelding and supreme-halter championships.
The Team Horse Pull begins at 12:30 p.m. It has a light-team class for pairs of 3,400 pounds or less and an open class, plus prizes for best-turned-out team and teamster. The Open Purebred Beef Cattle Show starts at 1 p.m. At 7 p.m., OTTPA's "Grand Daddy" Tractor Pull starts in front of the grandstand.
Monday Ends With Haflingers and 4-H Calves
The Registered Haflinger Show opens Thanksgiving Monday at 8:30 a.m. Its awards include the Superior Propane Champion Haflinger Exhibitor. The Norfolk 4-H Achievement Dairy Calf Show follows at 11 a.m., then the Open 4-H Interclub Show. Brent Sayles judges both. The second Edge Motorsports derby starts at 6 p.m., an hour earlier than the other weeknight grandstand shows. Reserved grandstand seats for it cost $5 and do not include fair admission.
What the Horse Show Has Kept
The show has carried this scale for years. In 2022 the Simcoe Reformer described a seven-day horse program with 225 classes in 12 divisions and more than $55,000 in prize money. Not every equine tradition has lasted. In 2010 Standardbred Canada reported that the fair, which has a long history of harness racing, had no races planned that year for the first time "perhaps in history." The racing stopped, and the show rings kept going. The organization behind all of it dates to 1840, when it formed as the Talbot District Agricultural Society.
Matching the Ticket to the Clock
Advance pricing closes Monday, October 5. From then on, all admission sells at gate prices, online and at the gates. Several of this year's gate prices only work on certain days or at certain hours:
- General admission is $20 for ages 14 and up and $12 for ages 4 to 13 from Wednesday on. Children 3 and under are always free.
- Big Deal Wednesday, October 7 is the fair's new addition this year. Seniors 60 and up pay $12 all day, which covers the 8 a.m. hunter classes. The $45 Friends & Family pass for two adults and children 13 and under starts at 3 p.m., which means it is built for the evening and the 7 p.m. derby, well after the hunters' morning start. One note on the admission page lists seniors' day as "Wednesday October 8," but the price table and the calendar both put Wednesday on October 7.
- Parking is $10 a day or $40 for the week, so the weekly rate pays off at four visits.
- Access2 cardholders pay regular admission, and their support person gets in free.
For questions about heavy horse entries, the prize book lists [email protected].
Some Norfolk properties are set up for the kind of horses that compete in the Tim Horton Ring and the heavy horse classes, with barns, paddocks, arenas and acreage. Their value depends on more than a neighborhood price average. If you own one and want to know where it stands, Kevin, Alicia & Associates can provide a confidential assessment based on the land, the facilities and the buyers who look for them. Book a property valuation.
