08/26/2021
Welcome to the Royal!
The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair takes place every November in the City of Toronto. Come celebrate the best in agriculture, local food, and equestrian competitions from across the country. Whether you’re a visitor or an exhibitor, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is jam-packed with home-grown fun and the best in local food and animal entertainment.
The Royal is the largest combined indoor agricultural fair and international equestrian competition in the world. It is where Canadian and international breeders, growers and exhibitors are declared champions and where hundreds of thousands of attendees come to learn, compete, shop and have a great time with friends and family.
Discover, Learn & PLAY at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
Today The Royal continues that legacy of excellence and is the largest indoor agricultural event in the world. The Royal Horse Show is one of the world’s finest equestrian spectacles and attracts athletes from across the planet. A win at The Royal means something, regardless of whether you’re pickling, jamming, raising beef or driving six-horse hitches. Every year, 300,000 people come to The Fair to celebrate the very best food, livestock and horsemanship this country has to offer.
A Royal History
Since 1922, the country has come to the city as farmers, growers, producers, and homesteaders have come from all over Canada to exhibit their very best agricultural products and livestock. After the First World War, a collective of notable farmers and horsemen got together to plan an exhibition of Canada’s finest agricultural wares. Led by a shorthorn cattleman, W.A. Dryden the group believed strongly in Canada’s ability to compete at a world-class level. Lacking no ambition, the group solicited and received full support from all three levels of government and was granted the Royal moniker by King George V of England.
The building of the Royal Coliseum – a landmark structure that still helps to greet people on their way into Toronto to this day – would commence in early 1921 in advance of the first Fair that November. Unfortunately, construction delays would prevent the facilities from being ready in time and the 1921 Fair would be postponed until the following year. Despite the early stumble, that 1922 Fair was a resounding success, beating all projections. It firmly established The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair as one of the world’s best.
