The state's largest agricultural fair had its first full day Friday, drawing people from all over the state to Durham.
Visitors got a chance to grab fair food like apple crisp and see animals and livestock from pigs to llamas in various barns.
With schools off Friday in Durham, some families took advantage and kids were able to get up close and personal with the animals. 11-year-old Loona Cooley got quite a shock touching llamas.
“Softer than I thought. I thought it was going to be harder fur, but they are fluffy,” she said.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
Perhaps one of the biggest stars of the fair was Linguini the Cow. The buck-toothed cow has been at the fair for nearly her whole life.
“She was born almost 14 years ago at the Berlin Fair and then she came to the Durham Fair every year after that. She’s got the teeth that stick out and that endears her to people,” Melissa Dziurgot, Linguini’s handler, said.
The Durham Fair is unique in that it's one of the largest fairs in the country and it's run entirely by volunteers.
About 200,000 people are expected to come out this weekend to get the quintessential country fair experience.
Local
“If you take a look around Durham right now, we have hundreds and hundreds of acres of farmland where we used to have horse farms, dairy farms and so it’s situated right here in the country,” Debbie Huscher, who does marketing for the fair, said.
Huscher said the fair is a huge fundraiser, bringing in anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000 for over two dozen area nonprofits.
The Durham Fair will run through Sunday. Details on how to attend can be found here.
