A CT country fair was to be one-time event. This is 50th year

It was a matter of popularity. And longevity.

The first modern-day Orange Country Fair in 1975 was was supposed to be a one-time event through the “vision of Walter Bespuda” and an army of volunteers, First Selectman Jim Zeoli said.

But here it is 2025 and the once agricultural town is celebrating the fair’s 50th year, and the reason is simple.

“People loved it so much we did it again,” longtime fair committee co-chair Karen McCausland said of that first year. “I didn’t see myself doing this long enough to hit the 50th.”

The fair, considered among the best of several in the state and the town’s premier annual event, has grown mightily through the years.

But it still manages to keep that old-fashioned feel — and that’s no accident.

Scenes from the Orange Country Fair.

McCausland,