Getting a Sense of Agriculture: Visitor Experiences from an Agricultural Fair

Abstract

This article explores how different visitors experience the performances, promotions and each other at Denmark's most visited agricultural fair. Visitors acknowledge differences between urban and rural visitors but no tension or conflict. Embodied knowledge and tactile experiences seem like the most legitimate way to understand agriculture from the perspective of both rural-urban and farming/non-farming visitors, and they are also a key thematic focus in this article. Some performances even provide the visitor with a sense of trust in agriculture which, temporarily at least, can mitigate concerns about the overall food production system. Making sense of the activities at the fair seems to be achieved through embodied experiences as well as broader cultural identifications relating to and integrating images and experiences of landscapes, people and animals and their interaction. The results of this article should thus contribute to the sociological body of work trying to make sense of the changing meanings and roles of agriculture and farmers to the general public, as well as provide insights into how such meanings are created and maintained both inside and outside of the event.