Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: Winter/Spring 2007 Volume 44 Numbers 1&2, Pages 76–77

Valley Forge Music Fair

Page 76

In 1948 a portion of land in the south-west corner of New Centerville Village was sold to the Valley Forge Music Fair. The Fair opened in 1955 with “Guys and Dolls”. It was housed in a tent and operated only in the summer. Between 1955 and 1967 134 shows were performed.

The original owners and founding partners were Lee Guber, Shelly Gross, and Frank Ford. The enterprise did go public and was an over the counter stock.

The Music Fair Group operated six theater operations at one point in time. They included, the Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, Long Island, NY; the Camden County Music Fair; the Valley Forge Music Fair; the Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD; the Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, MD (outside Washington, DC); and the Deauville Star Theater, located in the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, FL. The shows circulated between the sites.

In 1972 an all-weather theatre in the round was built which could seat an audience of nearly 3,000. The Fair had its last season in 1996.

This picture of the Music Fair was taken about 1956 looking north west. The Chester Valley Railroad is in front of the Music Fair and Swedesford Road behind. The hotel behind and to the left of the tent is the Tally-ho Hotel where performers used to stay in the early years.

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