Every Labour Day weekend, the small Quebec town of Shawville swells from a few thousand residents to a gathering of tens of thousands, all converging on one fairground that has been hosting the same event since 1856.
The Shawville Fair, officially run by the Pontiac Agricultural Society and often marketed as Expo Shawville, is one of the oldest continuously operating agricultural fairs in Canada, and in 2026 it will mark roughly 170 years of history with a five-day lineup of concerts, demolition derbies, livestock competitions, and midway rides.
If you’re weighing whether to buy tickets, this guide breaks down everything a first-time or returning fairgoer needs to know, from headliner set times to gate prices to the best way to plan your weekend around the crowds.
Unlike a touring festival that reinvents itself every year, the Shawville Fair’s appeal is its continuity: the same volunteer-run society, the same fairgrounds on Lake Street, and the same mix of rural tradition and big-stage entertainment that has drawn generations of the same families back every September. It consistently ranks among the largest fairs in Quebec’s Outaouais region, and all this is why ticket demand for the headline concerts tends to climb sharply in the final two weeks before the gates open.
History of the Shawville Fair: Why It Stands Out Among Fairs and Festivals
The Shawville Fair began in 1856 when local farmer William Clarke served as its first president and land was donated by James Shaw so the community could hold a proper agricultural exhibition.
The first fair had no buildings, no grandstand, and no formal show ring. Livestock were shown around a large pine stump, and everything from the octagonal exhibition hall to the horse barns was built by hand over the following century by the same volunteer society that still runs the event today.
That society, the Pontiac Agricultural Society (PAS), remains a nonprofit made up of roughly 30 active directors and volunteers, which gives the fair a level of local authenticity and continuity that few festivals can match.
Today, the Shawville Fair is a working regional exhibition where 4-H members show cattle and poultry, where the Pontiac region’s largest 4-H club competes annually, and where the concerts and derbies are layered on top of a genuine farming tradition. It is formally recognized as the Regional Fair of Western Quebec, and draws an estimated 65,000-plus visitors across its run, making it one of the most attended events in the Outaouais valley each year.
For ticket buyers, that scale means arriving early for headline sets and popular attractions genuinely pays off.
The fairgrounds themselves also double as a small heritage site. The Pontiac Museum, housed in a former Canadian Pacific Railway station moved to the grounds in the 1970s, sits right on the property and is open to fairgoers at no extra charge, giving visitors a way to step out of the midway noise and into a preserved slice of Pontiac County history between shows.
2026 Shawville Fair Dates and What You Can Expect When You Buy A Ticket
This year, the Shawville Fair runs from Thursday, September 3 through Monday, September 7, spanning the Labour Day long weekend as it traditionally does.
This five-day format is a relatively recent evolution. For much of its history, the fair ran only three days and fell later in September, and it expanded to its current length as attendance and programming grew. Each day of the fair has a distinct character, which matters if you’re deciding which single-day pass to buy rather than a full weekend pass.
Thursday functions as more of a soft-open day, with gates and midway rides available but a lighter entertainment schedule, which makes it a good option for families wanting to see the agricultural exhibits without weekend crowds.
Friday and Saturday are the fair’s peak nights, each built around a headliner concert on the main stage starting in the early evening and running into a late-night beer tent set.
Sunday mirrors that structure with its own headliner.
Monday, which is Labour Day itself, winds the fair down with daytime family programming and a final round of attractions before the gates close for the year.
Because the entertainment schedule is one of the biggest draws, it’s worth checking the fair’s official schedule page close to the event, since set times and supporting acts are typically finalized only a few weeks out and the organizers explicitly note that the schedule may change without notice.
Shawville Fair Music 2026 Lineup: Who’s Playing and on What Day?
Live music is the single biggest reason many ticket buyers choose a specific day at the Shawville Fair, and the 2026 lineup leans into a mix of rock and country that has become the fair’s signature main-stage formula.
Friday
Sussex: Ottawa’s Premier High-Energy Party Band
Formed in Ottawa in the early 2010s, Sussex built its reputation the hard way, grinding through the National Capital Region’s bar circuit before landing gigs on some of the city’s biggest stages, including a performance at the 2017 Grey Cup and repeated appearances at TD Place. The five-piece outfit is built around vocal-heavy, harmony-driven arrangements, tackling classic-rock and modern-pop staples from Journey, Fleetwood Mac, and Queen alongside contemporary dance hits, deliberately steering clear of the same overplayed setlist that dominates most cover-band circuits. Fronted by a rotating cast of skilled vocalists and instrumentalists, the band has spent close to a decade earning its billing as one of Ottawa’s most in-demand party acts. Sussex has performed at the Shawville Fair before, previously sharing the bill in support of Canadian rock icons Big Sugar, a credit that underscores the band’s standing on the regional festival circuit. On Friday night, Sussex opens the Main Stage before headliner Big Wreck, then closes out the evening with a late-night set in the Beer Tent, keeping the party going well past midnight.
Big Wreck: Three Decades of Canadian Guitar-Driven Grit
Formed in 1994 by Toronto native Ian Thornley and his Berklee College of Music classmates, Big Wreck broke through in 1997 with the Atlantic Records debut In Loving Memory Of… and its Top Ten hit “The Oaf,” before disbanding in 2002 and Thornley launching a Juno-nominated solo run with the band Thornley. He revived Big Wreck in 2011 with former bandmate Brian Doherty, and the reunion produced Albatross in 2012, the group’s best-charting album ever, debuting at #5 on the Canadian Albums chart and spawning a title track that held the #1 spot on Canadian Rock radio for six straight weeks. The band has since released Ghosts (2014), Grace Street (2017), …But For The Sun (2019), and the ambitious triple-EP set 7 (2023), cementing Thornley’s reputation as one of Canada’s most technically gifted guitarists and vocalists across a career now spanning more than three decades. Known for blending progressive, blues, and heartland rock into a sound both muscular and melodic, Big Wreck headlines the Shawville Fair’s Main Stage on Friday night, closing out the evening with the kind of soaring, guitar-driven performance that has defined the band since its earliest days.
Larry & Arnold: Ottawa Valley’s Veteran Acoustic Duo
With a combined seven decades on local stages, Larry and Arnold are true fixtures of the Ottawa Valley roots and country circuit. Larry has spent 45 years playing the regional music scene, while Arnold has spent the last 25 years lighting up venues throughout Ottawa and the Pontiac, drawing on deep roots in the area. The duo has built its reputation the old-fashioned way, playing acoustic sets at community staples like Gavan’s Hotel in Quyon, Quebec, and other beloved haunts across the Valley. Their Shawville Fair appearance continues a long-standing tradition of homegrown talent taking the stage between the fair’s bigger-ticket bookings, offering a set built on decades of experience.
Saturday
The Timber Line: Ottawa Valley’s Rising Country Rock Act
Since playing their debut show at Ottawa’s Crazy Horse Stonegrill Steakhouse & Saloon in February 2019, The Timber Line has grown into one of the Ottawa Valley’s most in-demand country acts. The five-piece features Andrew Green and Shaun Casey trading vocals and guitar, John Zwicewicz on keys, Trevor Grey on drums, and Alex Holmes on bass. The Timber Line has built their following through a steady residency at Kanata’s Crazy Horse and a growing footprint on the regional fair circuit, including headlining slots at events like the Beachburg Fair and Renfrew Fair. Their profile has expanded well beyond the bar stage, too: the band has performed live during Ottawa Senators game intermissions at the Canadian Tire Centre, giving them a taste of the capital’s biggest arena crowd. Blending country staples with rock energy, The Timber Line brings that same crowd-moving chemistry to Shawville, backing Saturday headliner Jackson Dean before taking their own late-night turn in the Beer Tent.
Jackson Dean: Country’s Platinum-Selling Wanderer
Raised in Odenton, Maryland, Jackson Dean left home at eighteen and sharpened his songwriting in an unheated, plumbing-free cinderblock shack before Nashville came calling. Signed to Big Machine Records in 2020, he released his self-titled debut EP in 2021 and broke through with “Don’t Come Lookin’,” a gravel-voiced anthem of wanderlust that hit #1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, went platinum, and landed a high-profile placement in Paramount’s Yellowstone. His 2022 debut album, Greenbroke, established him as one of country’s most distinctive new voices, earning a 2023 Academy of Country Music Award nomination for New Male Artist of the Year. Dean followed it with a 2023 live album recorded at the Ryman Auditorium, his 2024 sophomore record On the Back of My Dreams, and 2026’s Magnolia Sage, while opening arena and stadium dates for Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and Luke Bryan along the way. Known for his old-soul grit and unhurried, road-worn songwriting, Jackson Dean headlines Shawville’s Main Stage Saturday night, bringing one of country radio’s most talked-about young voices to the Ottawa Valley.
Sunday
Gail Gavan: The Pontiac’s Keeper of Valley Song
Gail Gavan grew up immersed in music at Gavan’s Hotel in Quyon, Quebec, the storied live-music venue her Irish-Canadian father and French-Canadian mother ran for decades, and that upbringing shaped her into one of the Ottawa Valley’s most beloved keepers of regional folk tradition. Beyond her recording and performing career, Gavan built a broadcasting résumé that includes hosting her own variety show, “Gail Gavan and Friends,” on CHRO in Pembroke, and co-producing and writing the award-winning theme song for “Fred’s Place,” a program honoring her uncle Fred Meilleur’s own historic Chapeau, Quebec hotel. She also spent four years co-hosting CBC’s “Cottage Country,” all while balancing a full-time teaching career. Gavan has made it her mission to preserve and pass down Ottawa Valley classics, from Mac Beattie’s storytelling songs to “The Log Driver’s Waltz,” keeping local history alive through music for new generations. At Shawville, she takes the Beer Tent stage Sunday afternoon with Friends of the Pontiac, backed by multi-award winning Canadian fiddler Louis Schryer and talented singer-guitaris Mike Ryan from Pakenham, Ont., for a set steeped in the same Valley storytelling tradition she’s championed her whole career. You catch more of Gail Gavan’s music on platforms including Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
Phil Denault: The Pontiac’s Homegrown Country Legend
A true fixture of the region’s country scene, Phil Denault has spent years building a reputation as one of the Pontiac’s most trusted live acts, both as a performer and as an organizer behind events like the Fort-Coulonge/Mansfield Country Festival. His band is a genuine family and community affair, featuring Marc Chenier on drums alongside longtime collaborators Willy Rivet on bass, Louis Shryer on fiddle, Yvan Petit on guitar, and Eric Sauvé on piano. Denault describes the group’s sound as a modernized take on country classics from the ’90s and early 2000s, favoring a well-loved, road-tested setlist over chasing the latest radio hits. That approach has made the Phil Denault Band a recurring favorite at the Shawville Fair, where past appearances have been billed as a homecoming of sorts for an artist the fair itself has called “a true Pontiac legend.” Sunday night, the band opens the Main Stage ahead of headliner Chris Janson before taking their own late set in the Beer Tent, giving fairgoers a hometown country show bookending one of the weekend’s biggest performances.
Chris Janson: From Broke to Grand Ole Opry
Born in Perryville, Missouri in 1986, Chris Janson moved to Nashville after high school and spent years living out of his car and sleeping on couches while grinding through honky-tonks like Tootsie’s before his songwriting career finally broke through. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist proficient on more than ten instruments, Janson wrote hits for artists like Tim McGraw and Hank Williams Jr. before his own 2015 breakout single, “Buy Me a Boat,” went five-times platinum and helped launch his major-label debut album of the same name. He’s since scored five #1 hits, including the platinum “Fix a Drink” and “Good Vibes,” earned an ACM Award and an iHeartRadio Music Award, and had “Buy Me a Boat” and “Drunk Girl” both named to the Nashville Songwriters Association International‘s “Songs I Wish I’d Written” list. In 2018, Keith Urban personally invited Janson to join the Grand Ole Opry, making him, at the time, its youngest living member. Known for a high-energy live show built on hard-won, true-to-life songwriting, Chris Janson closes out the Shawville Fair’s Main Stage lineup Sunday night as the weekend’s final headliner.
Shawville Fair Tickets and Admission: What It Costs to Get In
The Shawville Fair uses a “pay-one-price admission model”, meaning a single ticket covers on-grounds entry, unlimited midway rides, and access to all shows and entertainment for that day, with no separate ride tickets or show upcharges to budget for.
This is a meaningful value point compared to fairs that charge separately for rides or premium seating, and it’s one of the clearest selling points for families trying to estimate a total day’s cost in advance.
Daily admission prices for 2026 scale with the day’s programming, running from $20 on Thursday up to $30 on the two peak days:
Children under the age of 2 who are not riding midway rides get in free, and gates sell admission until 10:30 PM each night, after which no new entry or re-entry is permitted.
Tickets can be purchased online in advance through Ticketscene, the fair’s official ticketing partner, where buyers can choose individual day passes for Thursday through Monday, a full weekend pass covering the entire run, or a combined camping-and-entrance pass for anyone planning to stay on-site. Advance passes purchased through Ticketscene remain valid until September 2, 2026, so buyers locking in tickets ahead of time should note that cutoff if they’re planning a purchase close to the fair’s opening.
Buying online carries a practical advantage beyond convenience: e-tickets can be printed or displayed, which speeds up gate entry compared to a cash line, and it locks in access on a night where a specific headliner — Big Wreck, Jackson Dean, or Chris Janson — might otherwise draw a longer walk-up queue.
For ticket buyers weighing a single day against the full weekend, the math is worth doing directly against the family’s plans; a Friday-through-Sunday run covers all three headline concerts, while a Saturday-only or Sunday-only pass makes sense for anyone targeting just one act.
Shawville Fair Demolition Derby, Horse Pulls, and Truck & Tractor Pulls
Beyond the concert stage, the Shawville Fair’s motorsport and draft-animal competitions are consistently the events locals talk about most, and they draw a genuinely competitive circuit of entrants rather than a casual sideshow.
Demolition Derby
The demolition derby runs across several vehicle classes — full-size, mid-size, mini, Demo-X, and a Junk Run division — each governed by its own detailed technical rulebook covering everything from cage construction to fuel cell requirements, which signals a level of organization closer to a sanctioned motorsport event than a county-fair novelty act.
Horse Pulls
The horse pulls are sanctioned under the Eastern Ontario Draft Horse Pullers Association (EODHPA), meaning the teams competing at Shawville are part of a regional competitive circuit rather than a one-off exhibition, and the fair follows EODHPA’s official rulebook for judging weight classes and pull distances. This is a meaningful detail for anyone unfamiliar with draft horse competition: teams of two horses are hitched to a weighted sled and judged on how far they can pull escalating loads, and the sport draws serious breeders and handlers from across the Ottawa Valley and beyond specifically because Shawville’s pull is a recognized stop on the circuit.
Truck and Tractor Pulls
The truck and tractor pulls follow a similar structure, with modified trucks and tractors competing to drag a weighted sled the farthest down the track, and the event typically runs on its own dedicated day within the five-day schedule. Together, the derby, the horse pulls, and the tractor pulls form the fair’s motorsport and heavy-equipment backbone, and they tend to draw some of the largest single-attraction crowds of the entire event, arriving thirty to forty-five minutes before a marquee pull or derby heat starts is a reasonable rule of thumb for finding a decent grandstand or trackside spot.
Shawville Fair Agricultural Exhibits and Family-Friendly Attractions
The Shawville Fair markets itself as “The Valley’s Most Family-Friendly Fair,” and the programming largely backs that up with attractions built for every age group rather than skewing toward teenagers and adults.
The Agricultural Awareness Station and Draft Horse Educational Tent give younger visitors a hands-on introduction to where food actually comes from, while the Dairy and Beef Barns, Poultry Display, and Petting Zoo let kids get close to livestock in a low-pressure setting outside the competitive show rings.
The Exhibition Hall houses vendor booths alongside Homecraft and Horticultural displays, showcasing everything from preserves and baking to needlework and garden produce judged in classic fair-style competitions, a tradition that traces directly back to the fair’s founding purpose of letting local farmers and crafters show off their skills.
Free pony rides, courtesy of the Pontiac Agricultural Society, are a recurring favorite for younger children, and they run alongside the midway’s paid rides, which are already covered by the pay-one-price admission ticket.
For buyers planning around younger kids specifically, the fair maintains a separate family schedule distinct from the main entertainment lineup, timed around daytime hours rather than the late-night beer tent sets, so it’s worth checking that schedule directly if the trip is built around children rather than the evening concerts.
The combination of livestock barns, a petting zoo, pony rides, and a genuinely historic midway gives the Shawville Fair a broader multi-generational pull than a typical single-purpose concert event, which is reflected in attendance that regularly spans toddlers to seniors across the same afternoon.
Getting to Shawville for the Expo/Fair: Location, Parking, and Camping
Shawville sits in Quebec’s Pontiac region, roughly an hour’s drive west of downtown Ottawa along Highway 148 which is a manageable day trip for most of the National Capital Region and eastern Ontario, and part of why the fair pulls attendance well beyond the immediate town’s population.
The fairgrounds are centrally located on Lake Street, within easy walking distance of the town’s Main Street businesses, which makes Shawville itself a reasonable base for grabbing food or supplies before heading to the gate.
For visitors who don’t want to drive back the same night, the fair sells a dedicated camping-and-entrance combination pass through Ticketscene, allowing on-site camping for the full run alongside daily fairground access. This is worth strong consideration for anyone attending multiple headline concerts, since it removes the need to navigate parking and re-entry logistics late at night.
Campground rules are published separately on the fair’s website and are worth a read before arrival, covering everything from site conduct to quiet hours.
Gate rules are relatively standard for a fair of this scale but worth knowing before arrival: backpacks, coolers, and large tote bags are not permitted on the grounds, purses and strollers are subject to inspection, and outside alcohol is prohibited entirely.
Admission is refused to anyone appearing intoxicated, and the fair enforces a strict no-tolerance policy on disruptive or violent behavior, including immediate expulsion without refund, all practical details that are easy to overlook when the excitement is about the concert lineup, but that directly affect what a first-time visitor should and shouldn’t bring.
Shawville Fair is an Unforgettable Weekend of Community Fun, Music, and Rural Celebration
The Shawville Fair earns its reputation as one of Quebec’s most enduring community events by combining something few modern festivals can offer: nearly 170 years of unbroken agricultural tradition alongside a genuinely strong live-music lineup, competitive horse pulls, and a demolition derby that draws serious regional entrants.
For 2026, that means a five-day run from September 3 through 7 anchored by Big Wreck, Jackson Dean, and Chris Janson on the main stage, all included under a single pay-one-price admission that also covers the midway, agricultural exhibits, and family programming.
Whether the plan is a single Saturday built around one headliner or a full weekend with on-site camping, buying tickets in advance through Ticketscene remains the simplest way to lock in pricing and skip the gate line, and given the fair’s track record of drawing tens of thousands of visitors to a small Pontiac County town every Labour Day weekend, that advance planning tends to pay off.
Buy your tickets here to the 2026 Expo Shawville Fair and secure entry in advance so come the day of, all you have to do is check your ticket and walk in.
