Rain Can’t Stop the 123rd Hamburg Fair

Since 1897, the Hamburg Fair has given visitors a chance to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. This year was no exception.

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August 24, 2026
Teagan Tyson, 2, checks out everything from goats to fowl in the fair’s popular animal tent.

LYME, CT – World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic have forced the fair’s closure in the past, but rain was no match for the intrepid, three-day event that included a Hamburg Fair-record 69-foot cast iron skillet toss by reigning Grand Supreme Fry Pan Queen Kate Kelly of Deep River.

Two-time Hamburg Fair champion fry pan thrower Kate Kelly of Deep River beat out Mary Powell-St. Louis with a 69-foot throw. The Valley Shore Women’s Club 5th Annual Fry Pan Toss supports causes across the region and brings attention to the service group, which includes members from Lyme to Westbrook.
Recreation Commission Chairman Bob Cope (left), First Selectwoman Christy Zelek and Hamburg Fair entertainment chair Steve Deveau confirm Kate Kelly’s championship-winning throw. The Valley Shore Women’s Club said the throw left Kelly 0.2 inches behind the informal world record set at the Windsor Fair in Maine.
Jack West of Old Lyme Cub Scout Pack 27 raises money for the organization by urging fairgoers to dunk his dad, Dan Brockway.
Kevin Davidson of Old Lyme, left, and Chase Reneson of Lyme staffed the fundraiser for Lyme Fire Company. For $1, players got one minute to break through the forcible-entry training door. Winners received a department T-shirt.
A demo team from RISE Martial Arts Academy of Old Lyme and Old Saybrook performed for the crowd Saturday afternoon.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, talks with Hamburg Fair Chairman Dave Roberge, who has led the fair since its return from a two-year hiatus during the pandemic.
Lyme EMS Chief Steve Olstein took a seat at the group’s promotional table. The ambulance provider offers basic life support services in town and free community safety classes for everyone.

More scenes from the fair by Old Lyme Fire Department volunteer and local photographer Troy Christopher:

Kids from the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau took to the stage with SteveSongs, known to many families as “Mr. Steve” from PBS KIDS.
The Hamburg Fair gave friends a place to connect and for strangers to get to know each other.
Soldier Solutions was among two dozen businesses represented at this year’s fair. The company took home the ribbon for best commercial vendor’s booth.
The band LymeLyte, made up of graduates of Lyme-Old Lyme High School, headlined the Hamburg Fair on Saturday night with classic rock, blues, funk and modern hits.

On Sunday morning, Connecticut Delta Waterfowl and Ducks Unlimited – Connecticut made the most of a rainy morning by staging an impromptu pond scene in a flooded section of the fairgrounds.

Roberge, the fair chairman, said the fair’s rain-or-shine mantra was used to full effect this year.

“Overall, the music entertainment played well, all our contests were well attended and our winners – despite being a little damp – were very happy,” he said.

Here’s to continued optimism and perseverance as volunteers begin work on the 124th Hamburg Fair.

Photo courtesy of Connecticut Delta Waterfowl via the Hamburg Fair.

Author
Elizabeth Regan

Elizabeth started her journalism career in 2013 with the launch of The Salem Connect, a community news site inspired by digital trailblazers like Olwen Logan. Elizabeth’s earliest reporting included two major fires — one at a package store and another at a log cabin where she captured, on video, a state trooper fatally shooting the unarmed homeowner and suspected arsonist. The experiences gave her a crash course in public record searches, courthouse procedures and the Freedom of Information Act. She went on to report for The Bulletin, CT News Junkie, The Rivereast, and The Day, where she covered the Lymes and helped launch the Housing Solutions Lab on affordable housing. Her work has earned numerous awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists and the New England Newspaper & Press Association. Now, after more than a decade in digital, weekly, and daily journalism, she’s grateful to return to the place where it all started: an online news site dedicated to one small corner of Connecticut.

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