‘A large reunion’
Fair season returns to Southwestern Pa.
The sight of Ferris wheels, towering piles of cotton candy and the smoke plumes of a tractor pull are coming back for another year of delighting fairgoers.
Between mid-July and early September, five county and regional fairs will take their turn in the spotlight as they continue traditions dating back as far as the 19th century.
The first on the calendar is the one that’s been there the longest. The Jacktown Fair dates back to 1866, when the Richhill Agricultural, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Association held its first fair that September.
Its centennial edition expanded the fair to five days, which this year begins on Tuesday, July 14, and runs through Saturday, July 18.
One of the most popular events is the opening night parade, which begins winding through Wind Ridge at 6:30 p.m. The streets are always crowded with spectators for the parade, which features more than 100 entries.
“They’ve been doing it since the 100th fair,” said fair board President Walter Burns. “Fire departments and everybody knows that that’s the thing we have on Tuesday night, and they just go in and get a number.”
7 p.m. is the time to remember for other popular events, such as Wednesday night’s truck pull, Friday’s ATV/UTV/Dirt Bike Drags, and Saturday night’s Hardcore Demolition Derby.
A power tractor pull was added to the lineup for this year, at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
It’s gonna be a lot of bigger tractors, and they pull for points,” Burns said. “We haven’t been able to get into that until this year.”
This year’s fair adds a new remote control racing event on the first four nights of the fair, where racers can use real steering wheels to direct the cars on the track.
Jacktown also added a 5K race, which starts at 9 a.m. July 18.
Burns said the fair, now in its 161st year, has become “a large reunion.”
“A big part of it is people that’s moved away, and they come back to see their friends and neighbors of years ago,” he said. “That’s one reason why we have a lot of benches sitting around, so people can sit and visit.”
After a couple of weeks without a local fair, the tradition picks back up with the Fayette County Fair, which runs from Thursday, July 30, through Saturday, Aug. 8.
“We’re one of the only ones that’s open 10 days out of the year … we’re one of the bigger fairs, like we have a lot more space, a lot more things to do compared to most fairs. So I think it brings a lot of people coming back,” said Lindy Ferguson, an office staffer for the Fayette County Fair.
In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, this year’s fair brings in a slew of patriotic competitions, including floral arrangements, a cherry cobbler contest, a diaper derby, and a show string contest, where exhibitors in the open dairy, the open beef, horses and dairy goat divisions can decorate their stalls in red, white and blue.
The outdoor arena is always filled with fans for crowd favorites like the rodeo, motocross and monster trucks.
And Fayette County saves the best for last with a closing-night performance by the Oak Ridge Boys, which begins at 7 p.m. at the EQT Arena.
“We’ve gotten a lot of phone calls about people who want to come see them, so there’s definitely a lot of people who are excited for them to come to the fair this year,” Ferguson said.
The excitement at this year’s Fayette County Fair begins earlier than usual, with a ribbon-cutting on July 22 to celebrate the debut of the fair’s new small-species barn.
Next up is the Greene County Fair, which takes place from Sunday, Aug. 9, through Saturday, Aug. 15.
A new RC racing track will be a nightly attraction. And making its Greene County Fair debut is Ryze Pro Wrestling of Fayette County, which brings an action-packed show to the grandstands at 7 p.m. Wednesday. It’s something the fair has talked about doing for several years, said Courtney Hursey, the fair’s manager.
“That’s not really been done before at the fair, so we’re excited to have that,” she said.
“Hands down,” the biggest event of the year is the Hardcore Demolition Derby, where an enthusiastic crowd will watch the carnage at 7 p.m. Friday.
“There is almost nothing that people like more than to watch cars smash into each other,” Hursey said.
This year’s Redeye Rodeo, 7 p.m. Tuesday, will also boast the talents of noted rodeo clown Dave “Showtime” Meyer.
“He is sort of a social media sensation, so we are super excited to have him on the rodeo this year,” Hursey said.
Tuesday is the fair’s American PA250 Day, which will include a play written by one of the board members. The Carmichaels American Legion Band is planning a musical performance, and the rodeo will also have an American theme.
In a partnership with the Greene County Historical Society, the fair will have a display throughout the week showcasing the county’s history. It will also include the Liberty Bell replica painted with a tableau of Greene County scenes by Danielle Nyland as part of the statewide celebration.
The fair attracts around 13,000 people a year, some for the 4-H/FFA market shows, some for the grandstand events, and some just for the fair food.
“Every family has their own tradition, whether it’s 4H or the demolition derby or truck and tractor pools, and that’s the reason they’re coming to the fair,” Hursey said.
As one fair ends, another begins. The Washington County Fair will be held from Saturday, Aug. 15 through Saturday, Aug. 22.
Fairgoers can expect a couple of new grandstand events, said Gino Bioni, vice president of the fair.
To mix things up, one of the fair’s two demolition derby nights was converted into a figure-eight bump, a timed event where cars have to drive in a figure-eight pattern.
“It works well with us because with the fair schedules being so tight, nobody around us is having that event,” Bioni said.
Another new wrinkle is a returning favorite.
“We haven’t had monster trucks for about six or seven years, and we’re bringing those back,” Bioni said. “So that should be a big change in our grandstand as well.”
Washington County’s biggest event each year happens on Wednesday night, when each school in the community is represented in the school bus demolition derby.
“The band kids come and paint the bus,” Bioni said. “We pick a theme every year, and they pick buses, and that’s definitely our biggest attraction and our biggest draw.”
It’s also one of a dwindling number of fairs in the state that offers harness racing, which fans can check out starting at 10 a.m. Aug. 16 and 11 a.m. Aug. 17.
“There’s less and less fairs in the state of Pennsylvania that still offer live harness racing, and we will stick with that as long as we can,” Bioni said.
The fair routinely draws around 60,000. Much of that enduring popularity comes down to the fair’s community and culture, Bioni said.
“We get a lot of help from the community, a lot of outreach from the community, and it’s just very deeply rooted in everyone amongst the county,” he said. “People really look forward to that week of the fair every year.”
Fair season wraps up for the year with the West Alexander Fair, being held this year from Labor Day, Sept. 7, through Saturday, Sept. 12.
New this year is a timed barrel race — except instead of horses, riders will be making precision moves with zero turn mowers.
“I don’t think any other fair around here does it,” said Dwight Hunter, a member of the fair’s board of directors.
That will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, replacing the afternoon rodeo.
Instead of the arena cross event with quads and motocross, the fair is adding a modified street race Thursday evening.
Returning popular events include the demolition derby, held Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Monday evening rodeo and Thursday’s tractor pull also reliably bring in big crowds.
On Saturday is the market livestock show, where 133 children will display the animals they’ve been raising.
“We were actually the first fair in the state of Pennsylvania to have a 4-H/FFA market livestock sale,” Hunter said.
Started in 1960 with steer, it’s grown to include swine and lambs.
For about 20 years, the fair has also been doing a “Got Ag?” day, where second-graders from the nearby McGuffey School District come down to see the animals, fruits and vegetables and garden exhibits.
The safe, community feel of the fair keeps people coming, as does the location. Right on the West Virginia border, and about 20 minutes from Ohio, the West Alexander Fair routinely gets a lot of out-of-state visitors, Hunter said. People from a neighboring West Virginia county with no local fair also get to bring their animals.
“We count license plates every couple years, and there’s just about as many West Virginia, Ohio attendees as Pennsylvania attendees,” Hunter said.