Girls from the Oxford Caprine Milkers 4-H Club lead their sheep back to their pens after showing them at the Fryeburg Fair in October 2023. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Organizers of the Fryeburg Fair want to open to the public one day earlier than usual this year, but that plan has ruffled feathers with organizers of the Cumberland Fair.

Traditionally, the Cumberland Fair in Cumberland Center closes on a Saturday, and the Fryeburg Fair opens on a Sunday. This year, the Fryeburg Fair announced that it would open on the same Saturday that the Cumberland fair closes.

The overlapping date — Sept. 27 — is now a matter of contention between the two longtime events.

Fryeburg organizers say the change is needed to give a boost to the midway’s carnival rides and games. They have said that livestock vendors who normally attend both fairs should stay at the Cumberland Fair on Saturday and won’t be penalized for arriving late to the Fryeburg Fair on Sunday.

“We’re very mindful of the fact that we are competing against Cumberland, and we’re trying our best not to do them damage,” said David Hastings, president of the West Oxford Agricultural Society, which operates the Fryeburg Fair. “We are 50 miles apart. They have their own loyal group of fair attendees. We hope that they will all attend Cumberland.”

But the organizers of the Cumberland Fair are still worried that participation and attendance will suffer on what is usually the busiest day of their event.

“We’ve established really a great brotherhood, a community where we work together,” said Elizabeth Tarantino, secretary of the Cumberland Farmers Club, which runs the county fair. “What’s happening now, what Fryeburg is doing, is absolutely counterintuitive to that fellowship that we all have established over many, many, many years. I’m sad to see this.”

Clara Stanley Lewis, 8, of Buxton reaches to give Spot a piece of cheese during the pig races at the Cumberland Fair in September 2024. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry issues licenses for agricultural fairs and approve the dates three years ahead. The state also pays fairs to help with some costs.

The schedule of approved dates on the department’s website lists the beginning of the Fryeburg Fair as Sept. 28, not Sept. 27. The fairs presented their dates for 2026 through 2029 to the state on Tuesday, and the Fryeburg Fair did not include the extra Saturday in that application either.

In 2024, an estimated 230,000 people attended the Fryeburg Fair, and nearly 60,000 people went to the Cumberland Fair.

Hastings said he believes that the fair is allowed to open early but will not request any money from the state for the additional day.

“We have asked to be licensed for the standard eight days,” he said. “We plan to run an unlicensed fair on Saturday, and our hope is that over time this will show that this is not detrimental to Cumberland, and we can gain a license for it.”

Department spokesperson Jim Britt said Wednesday the issue is under review. “The question before the Commissioner is whether Fryeburg Fair’s proposal is within the scope of existing law for agricultural fairs,” he said in an email. “The decision is under deliberation, and we cannot comment further at this time.”

Fairgoers ride on the chair swings at the Cumberland Fair in 2024. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Fair organizers said they have been talking about the potential change in dates for the Fryeburg Fair for several years. Tarantino said other fairs do overlap dates — the Ossipee Valley Fair in South Hiram and the Houlton Fair share a couple days — but they usually have a greater distance between them. Tarantino said vendors are worried about whether they will get the same space for their animals if they arrive late to Fryeburg and how they will contend with traffic if the fair is already open when they arrive.

Hastings said the Fryeburg Fair will not host any livestock competitions on Saturday, and participants will still have their usual access to the same spaces even if they do not arrive until the second day. He noted that the number of midway operators has dropped dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, and he encouraged others to consider extending their fair dates to support those businesses as well.

Children enjoy the rides at the Fryeburg Fair in October 2023. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

“We’re concerned that leaving weekend days unused is very bad business,” he said. “Those are the days when the bigger crowds come. Those are the days when the fair and the midway can make the money that they need to maintain the fair and the agricultural displays going forward.”

Jenn Grant has been going to both fairs for 40 years and brings her beef cattle from Findview Farm in Gorham. The schedule change could make for a longer day for her and her animals as she moves from one fair to the other, but her primary concern is for the 4-H participants. Grant leads the beef club in Cumberland County and said 2o to 25 kids usually show their cattle on Thursday at the Cumberland Fair. She said some families already skip the Cumberland Fair in favor of the larger Fryeburg Fair because the events are so close together, and she fears an even shorter turnaround time could further impact participation.

“Even though people don’t have to choose, they’re going to feel like they have to choose,” Grant said.