UNITY — Mainers and others with an interest in agriculture, crafts, food, entertainment, presentations and active volunteerism have long marked their calendars for the end of September when the Common Ground Country Fair traditionally celebrates rural living on the 300-acre site of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA).

This year MOFGA will hold an alternative fair with free, live, online content on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25, 26 and 27, and other content to be available online free and in print for a year after that. The fair will also feature a virtual marketplace, selling many of the products fairgoers traditionally associate with the event.

Because the fair will be online this year, MOFGA is asking fairgoers and others to become part of the the event in a different way. The fair will comprise dozens of events and activities so that it can continue to connect by sharing knowledge, supporting local economies, creating access to organic food and extending MOFGA’s year-round work.

In addition to tapping the large pool of past volunteers, MOFGA needs new volunteers with skills not normally associated with the fair to make the events accessible to a wide community. Those who usually plan their participation around the start of fall began in early summer shooting video and designing a range of activities. MOFGA needs volunteers to help create content and to manage post-production of that content.

The following areas are integral to the Common Ground Country Fair experience: education on rural skills, energy and shelter, growing and processing food and livestock rearing; activities for children; a marketplace for Maine-made items, including crafts, food, agricultural products and others; social and political engagement, including voter information for the 2020 election; and entertainment.

MOFGA staff and the Fair Steering Committee are seeking volunteers interested in helping make the fair as fulfilling while providing archival content that will mark this moment in history and offer information that will remain valuable. Interested volunteers should contact Andrew Graham at volunteers@mofga.org or 207-568-6046.