Fairgrounds

Written by George Sanders

One hundred steps out of the North gate cruched stone replaced the grass on either side of the cobblestone road. The rock had been hammered into a one inch product with smaller debris removed. The clean look of the stone gave the place an otherworldly feel of importance during the offseason.
The clean product, more importantly, allowed better drainage during the Spring rains. The fairgrounds needed to be ready to use on the Spring cross quarter day, halfway between the spring equinos and summer solstice. That marked the beginning of the festival leading up to the Fish and Biscuit Rally on the summer solstice.
Darker stone had been laid were stalls and tents would be set up. The lighter, silver colored stone were used in paths. Three long paths were set up parallel to the road. Several alleys connected the paths.
To the left the fairgrounds were separated from the beach and bay by a row of large boulders. To the right several barns stood in a row, perpendicular to the main grounds. During the off season the barns would be used to store food harvested from the surrounding farms before being brought to the market inside the city.
When the festival kicked off the fairground paths would fill with laughing and joy as much as tents. Food, performances, and contests for any skill brought people even hundreds of miles from the South. Local families and merchants still made up the majority of attendees but it was a great time to meet people and often wedding announcements were made from the stage put up at the Northern end of the fairgrounds.
Even now with no building present people tend to smile as they pass through. Watching wagons and people pass through the North Gate you can see them point and lean over toward companion to tell some story of their visit to the last festival.