So as a 'not from round ere' type, what do you need to survive it?
Firstly you'll need Wellington boots, no matter the weather, you'll be so grateful you have some seriously sturdy boots between you and the poo, there's a LOT of poo at a county fair.
You'll definitely need to like or at least tolerate dogs, because holy moly it's like Cruffs with mud, every breed of dog seems to descend on Dorchester and roam around a couple of fields for two days, seemingly ownerless.
Embrace cider, even if your not a cider drinker, drink it, it usually taste like it was made in someone's old sock, or as I like to call it, 'prison issue cider', but it will give you a nice 'don't care about the poo all over my kids new trainers ' kind of buzz.
Be prepared to walk a lot, really a lot, so if you have whiny kids who just want to spend all your money or just want to go repeatedly on the helter skelter then plan a quick route round, otherwise you'll end up sitting on soggy grass trying to drink you prison issue cider wishing you could put a six year old in a buggy!
For all its obstacles for a townie like me, like mud, poor choice of clothing, my aversion to tweed two pieces, the County fair is a great day out, my kids sat on every tractor they can find/sneak on to, they saw sheep shearing, some kind of tiny horse racing, they get to see animals up close and real artisan crafts being made. It is a unique experience and it will take an entire day, but I know no matter what the weather (torrential rain this year, absolutely horrendous puddles inside my shoes at one point ) no matter if my kid tries to adopt a very large pig, or the other one declares he wants to be a farmer when he's older...I'll be going back time and time again because it really is quite a lot of fun.
