Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair starts Thursday
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on September 21, 2008 7:27 AM
The 60th annual award-winning Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair will open Thursday, bringing cotton candy and cowboys, show horses and blue-ribbon pies to the county fairgrounds south of Goldsboro.
The fair, sponsored by the Wayne County Livestock Development Association, will run through Saturday, Oct. 4.
This year's festival will feature fireworks, bull-riding and a "living" statue, along with the usual array of arts and crafts, singers and spelling bees, talent contests and agricultural exhibits, vintage tractors and fair queens, Western "gunfights" and corn dogs.
Carnival rides will again be provided by Powers Great American Midway, which will feature 48 rides. Two demolition derbies will be held, the first on Sunday, Sept. 28, and the second on the following Saturday.
Competition will be held in more than 1,200 individual areas, covering 78 separate departments ranging from photography to food preservation.
Bull-riding will be featured on Monday and Tuesday nights, Sept. 29 and 30.
The Queen of the Fair contest will be Friday, Sept. 26. The cheerleading contest is set for Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Special preschool and kin-dergarten entertainment will be Monday through Friday, Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.
Admission at the gate is $6 for adults and $3 for students with a school ticket. Gates open at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Senior Citizens Day, with free admission to anyone age 60 and over, will be held Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Fair officials said the "pay-one-price-ride" concept will be in effect again this year, but with a special offer on Saturdays -- the $20 wristband will be good from opening to closing. On weekdays, a separate wristband must be purchased after 5 p.m.
A new ride is the Vortex, which requires the wristband plus three extra ride tickets.
Wristbands can be bought in advance for $15 through Wednesday. For information, go to www.waynefair.com. The site also offers a schedule of events and a map of the fairgrounds.
Fireworks will be light up the fair on Fridays and Saturdays.