Come to the fair!

It only comes around once a year, and next week’s Fayette County Fair is an event you won’t want to miss.

Beginning this Saturday with the junior horse and pony show and concluding a week later with the always-popular demolition derby, the fair offers a smorgasbord of sights, sounds, smells and tastes that is vintage county fair. Nowhere else can your senses experience the same delicious mix.

The gates open Saturday morning, and the full lineup of 4-H and open competition gets under way. As the schedule in this week’s special section on the fair indicates, the judging in those contests lasts the entire week. Included are categories for horses, rabbits, poultry, sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs, goats, dogs, cats and gardening produce. For those selling their animals, the livestock auction is Tuesday evening.

And that doesn’t even touch the featured events going on nightly in the grandstands. There, you will see entertainment such as tractor pulls (antique, conventional and the roaring modifieds), the Fair Queen Pageant (Miss, Junior Miss and Little Miss), a karaoke contest, stock car racing and a rodeo. It’s a lineup that certainly has something for everyone. Most evenings, the action begins at 7 p.m.

No county fair would be complete without a carnival. The midway opens for the week on Monday evening at 5 p.m. – and opens every evening through Saturday, July 17, at the same time.

As always, food stands will be plentiful, offering all the usual treats of a county fair.

It’s a once-a-year event that provides an amazing array of entertainment options. And the gate admission fee is still a bargain – $1 per person to get into the grounds. Fees for the grandstand events vary.

So pack the family in your van or pickup and head to the fair. It’s THE place to be this coming week in Fayette County.

db