leave their houses if there is more than three inches of snow
on the ground. My point is we don’t need to create our own
entertainment; it is right there for us any time we want, day
or night.
New Sweden, “The 1937 Fort Fairfield Winter Carnival was
the best of the carnivals” (mainewsc.org 18 Nov 2015). The
entire area surrounding Fort Fairfield participated in some
way. In fact, trains, known as Snow Trains, ran from Fort
Fairfield to surrounding County and New Brunswick towns
As you may know either from personal experience or from several times a day transporting participants and observers to
those family stories of “when I was your age…” such was the festivities. Much like the current Maine Potato Blossom
not always the case.
Festival held each July in Ft. Fairfield, the winter carnival
involved competitions, dances, and beauty pageants. But,
Recently, I uncovered some interesting articles from the the annual winter carnival was a gigantic celebration, much
archives of the Fort Fairfield Review about the annual like the Maine Potato Blossom Festivals of the same era.
winter carnivals held in Aroostook County each winter.
The February 1937 carnival in Fort Fairfield was particularly One of the most impressive creations from the winter
intriguing as it was a major event for not just area towns, carnival of 1937 was an ice palace. Lit up at night, it
but also for our Canadian neighbors. While other towns sparkled and spilled colored light through its paper covered
held their own winter carnivals, it seems that Fort Fairfield’s windows. But the excitement did not end with the splendid
was the one to attend. According to Alden Anderson from castle. Each day of the carnival adults, high school students
WINTER 2016
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