More than 150 vendors are expected to spread across Granville this Columbus Day weekend as the town's Harvest Fair returns for its 43rd year, drawing thousands of visitors to a Western Massachusetts hilltown that's home to fewer than 2,000 year-round residents. The fair opens Saturday, Oct. 10, and runs through Monday, Oct. 12, with craft vendors, food booths, live entertainment, and artist demonstrations scattered across multiple sites in town.
The event began far more modestly than its current scale suggests. According to The Westfield News, the fair started as a quilt show back in 1981 and has since grown into one of the region's largest autumn gatherings, free to attend though some parking may carry a small fee. Karen A. Carpenter, who organizes the fair alongside Karen J. Carpenter and Bernadette Toomey, said the event will be “a wonderful time for everyone who attends,” per the same account.
Hours run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 10, and Monday, October 12, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, with a map illustrated by Gregery Miller guiding visitors between locations. The town will run a free shuttle service through the fair sites all day, while police officers will be on hand directing visitors to parking lots.
Cooley & Company Anchors the Fair With Rides and Food Trucks
One of the fair's major hubs is Cooley & Company at 66 Granby Road, which is providing 60 acres for parking and hosting more than 60 vendors under a circus tent. The site, known as Cooley Buy, plans to host carnival rides including slides and bounce houses, alongside a lineup of food vendors that includes Sweet Memories Donuts' mobile dessert trailer, the Las Jibaritas Spanish cuisine food truck, Home Fruit Wines out of Orange, and Ronnie Pops made by Moolicious Farm.
The Cooley & Company Art Studio will feature glass blowing, chainsaw carving, and woodworking demonstrations throughout the weekend. Elsewhere at the fair, Daggers Meadery will offer handcrafted meads made from honey, Skyline Beer Company will pour locally brewed beer alongside specialty pretzels, and Southwick's Crepes Tea House will serve sweets, savory crepes, and kebabs. Fairgoers can also find food from Westfield's Bubble Memory Café and homemade cider donuts among the offerings.
A 160-Year-Old Drum Factory Opens Its Doors
The fair includes tours of the 160-year-old Noble & Cooley drum factory, a company founded in January 1854 by Silas Noble and James P. Cooley that is recognized as the oldest continuously operating drum manufacturer in the United States, according to the Mass Cultural Council. The factory's history includes building an eight-foot-diameter drum from two ox hides for Boston's 1869 National Peace Jubilee — then considered the largest drum in the world — emblazoned with the phrase “LET US HAVE PEACE.” In August 1860, the company also built a presidential campaign drum for Abraham Lincoln out of fence rails Lincoln himself had split in Illinois, featuring sterling silver hooks and a painted portrait of the future president, as documented by Inc. Magazine.
The Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation museum and gift shop will be open all three days of the fair, offering tours, demonstrations, and food vendors, with live music scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Another local institution with deep roots, the Granville Country Store, continues producing its signature cellar-aged cheddar following a process established by founder John Murray Gibbons in 1851, per the Granville Country Store.
Fair Proceeds Fund Local Food Pantry and Nonprofits
Beyond the entertainment, the fair functions as a major fundraiser for community organizations, with nonprofit groups throughout Granville selling food to support their work. Our Community Food Pantry, which serves food-insecure people in Granville, Tolland, and Southwick, will have a booth under the pavilion.
That civic spirit extends beyond the fair's official vendor list. At the historic 1802 Meeting House, the lawn hosts an annual Scarecrow Contest funded by the Granville Cultural Council alongside vintage tractor displays and homemade pie and soup sales inside, according to The Westfield News. Volunteers at the Granville Federated Church organize prep sessions weeks in advance of the fair to cook large batches of homemade soups and apple crisp for their food booths, a community fundraising effort the church describes on its website.
A Town Shaped by Watershed Land and a Shrinking Population
Granville's small footprint today belies its 19th-century prominence. The town's population peaked at 2,100 residents in 1810 — roughly matching Springfield at the time — before rocky soil pushed many early farmers westward, with some emigrants eventually founding Granville, Ohio, according to Wikipedia. U.S. Census Bureau estimates cited by Cubit Demographics put Granville's 2024 population at 1,846 residents with a median household income of $84,375.
Much of the town's modern significance comes from what lies beneath its hills rather than its storefronts. The Cobble Mountain Dam and Reservoir are in Granville. The adjacent Cobble Mountain Hydro-Power Station generates electricity using water from the reservoir.
