Danbury Fair Days

The Danbury Fair grew from gatherings begun in 1821 by the Fairfield Agricultural Society in Elmwood Park on Main Street, where farmers discussed farming methods and displayed the fruits of their labor. In 1869, hat manufacturer Rundle & White organized The Danbury Farmers & Manufacturers Society, which held its first fair in a rough board, one-story building and a small tent borrowed from the Barnum & Bailey Circus on the site of a new trotting track called Pleasure Park. Beginning in the 1870s, the first week of October became known as Fair Week, with Main Street decorated for an annual kickoff parade and streetcars running from City Hall Square to the fair grounds. By 1901, crowds of out-of-town visitors required special trains. In 1946, John W. Leahy became the fair's sole owner, and his showmanship helped make it one of the biggest events of its kind in the East, expanding it beyond agricultural and livestock displays into a virtual city of paved expanses, modern exhibit buildings, and midway attractions. The horse races of the early years gave way to auto races in 1904, then to midget car races from 1940 to 1964, and the Southern New York Racing Association, which debuted during Fair Week in 1951, continued drawing grandstands full of spectators for summertime stock car races until the last fair was held in 1981. The former fair grounds are now the site of The Danbury Fair Mall.

Danbury, Connecticut · United States