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Alliston Potato Festival
The Alliston Potato Festival, operated by a volunteer organization, is a festival that takes place in Alliston, New Tecumseth, Ontario. It is held in advance of the fall potato harvest in celebration of the community's Agricultural Roots that date back to 1972. The event occurs around mid-August to focus on showcasing the community, the incredible organizations that aid in making Alliston such a hospitable environment to live in, and to support the community's needs.

History
The idea of an Alliston Potato Festival was first established on June 14, 1972, when David Willis, the then Alliston Herald publisher, wrote an article suggesting that the best way to promote the community would be to hold a Potato Festival. During this period, Alliston was the largest and best potato growing town of Ontario, and likely to even be of Canada. The Alliston Rotary Club supported the proposal Willis suggested and it went before the Alliston Recreation Committee of the Town Council as a way to incorporate all organizations so that they could work together.

Will Nap, a member of the agriculture office, was elected as chairman, and Gerry Moon as vice president of the first Potato Festival committee. The first festival took place on Victoria Street, where festival-goers could find all of the action that was to come with the event. A list of desired activities was created and groups organized the activities according their areas of expertise.

Since Willis planted the seed of the Potato Festival, it has grown and expanded its existence with the event presently stretching across 3 days. Not only does it still occur on Victoria Street, but has now extended to take place on two baseball fields that are converted into the Festival fairground every August as well. The festival is known for holding one of the biggest parades that launch the fun-filled weekend. The parade hosts as many as 40 to 50 entries that make their way down Victoria Street on decorated floats that celebrate the agricultural roots of the Alliston community while thousands of citizens line up and down the sidewalks to proclaim the most enjoyed weekend of the year.

One thing that has remained constant throughout the festivals years of operation is that it is truly a community affair, bringing everyone together to celebrate the greatness of the town and the community they have built. It has remained, for some of the non-profit organizations that aid in the operations of the festival, their biggest fund raising event of the year.

Events
The festival grounds host a variety of activities that include something for the whole family. Festival-goers have the opportunity to experience activities like live entertainment, showcased local talent, a beer garden, vendors, food booths and a midway that occurs from Friday night up through till Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, ABIA, the Alliston Business Improvement Association, hosts a downtown salute to the Rurban culture, filling it with vendors, a classic car show where people display their most unique of automobiles, and provide entertainment to keep the events downtown active for the whole day.

Organizations
Over the years, the Alliston Potato Festival Committee has contributed to organizations such as :


 * Alliston Relay For Life


 * The Alliston Nikolettes Gymnastics Club
 * The Alliston Cenotaph
 * Modernize of the Alliston Library
 * Alliston Minor Hockey Equipment
 * Rotary Club for park beautification
 * Alliston Arena Floor


 * Signs at the entrance of town
 * Fairground Pavilion
 * Bandshell At Riverdale Park
 * South Simcoe Pioneer Museum
 * Improvements to Alliston Rotary Pool
 * Siding on Alliston Arena
 * Eighth Avenue Youth Centre
 * Gibson Cultural Centre
 * Community Living for South Simcoe (CLASS)
 * My Sister's Place
 * New Tecumseth Rodeo
 * Alliston Home Show
 * Beeton Fair
 * Town of New Tecumseth

The Alliston Potato Festival will continue to help those in need within the community, the organizations that structurize Alliston and will remain a valuable asset to the community.

Fairgrounds Admission
Fairground admissions as of 2022 are as follows :

Weekend Passes: $10

Daily Admission: $5

Seniors: $3

Children under 11: free

Weekend passes are available at Brisco Furniture, ABIA office, Details, and at the gate upon entrance.

Festival Committee Members
The festival committee members are responsible for a variety of responsibilities including coordinating the volunteer leadership that is fundamental to the production of the festival, the communication of information, assisting the leadership in decision-making by providing necessary information so they can make choices, and determining a budget that controls the finances that go towards the event while measuring the success of the events performance. They ensure the necessary steps are taken to employ a successfully accomplished event. Below is a list of members that are a part of the festival committee :

President: Rick Milne (the current Mayor of New Tecumseth)

Vice President: currently vacant

Secretary/Treasurer: Darlene Veltri

Flea Market: Rosa Barraco

Stage Entertainment: Nick Poulakis

Flea Market Entertainment: Eva Martin

Sponsors
Below is a list of the generous sponsors that contribute to the success of the fair :


 * New Tecumseth
 * Home Hardware
 * The Shed Company Inc.
 * Farsight Homes
 * Guerra Team
 * Country 105 Radio Station
 * Ontario Potato District Alliston
 * Experience Simcoe County
 * Coldwell Banker
 * David Sgro Team
 * Domino's Pizza
 * Tim Hortons
 * Swiss Chalet
 * Ice River Sustainable Solutions
 * Nottawasaga Inn Resort
 * Johnny's Pizza Alliston

The Alliston Potato
In mid-July of 2019, a new variety of potato was named Alliston and rightfully so as the town has acquired the name of spud capital of Ontario. Alliston was officially registered with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, making it the first potato in history to make its name after the potato capital of Ontario.

The new variety was developed by Andre Gagnon, a private potato breeder from Quebec, who wanted to create a spud that had smooth skin and white flesh, presented in the shape of round or oval. He also wanted it to have an early maturity and resistance to the common scab, the most common potato disease in the entire province. Common scab is a soil born disease caused by the bacteria-like organism Streptomycin scabies causing the tubers affected by the disease to show either shallow or deep brown scabs, or a combination of both. A batch of the potatoes were grown in a trial area in a field on the 12th line of New Tecumseth.

The process of creating the new variety from development to registration took about a decade to accomplish, according to Dr. Eugenia Banks, a potato specialist with the Ontario Potato Board. She was first able to get her hands on the variety in 2014, and for three consecutive years, she planted them in a field at C&V Farms.