Fair begins today
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 29, 2016 9:57 AM
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Seven Springs resident Elizabeth Taylor, 6, front, points out her favorite rabbit to her friend Jenna Slye, 11, at the Wayne County Regional Agricultural Fair exhibition space at the Wayne County Fairgrounds on Wednesday evening.
DUDLEY -- There will be plenty of food, carnival rides, games, exhibits and entertainment when the 68th annual Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair launches its 10-day run this afternoon at 4 p.m.
But at its heart, the fair is all about showcasing the area's rich agricultural heritage.
Due to heavy rains, the Open Junior Market Hog Show has been cancelled for tonight, and the math competition has been cancelled, but is expected to be rescheduled. The drafting competition has been moved to Monday night at 5:30.
The shows continue at 6 p.m. Friday with the Open Junior Meat Goat Show. There are 72 goats and 109 exhibitors.
The Open Junior Market Lamb Show starts at noon on Saturday. There are 83 lambs and 56 exhibitors.
The Beef Heifer Show starts at 1 p.m. Sunday with 48 beef heifers and 28 exhibitors.
A Livestock Skillathon will be held at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4.
The shows wrap up with the Open Pony and Mule Show at 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6, followed by the Open Horse Show at 5:30 p.m.
The fair, located on U.S. 117 South near its intersection with U.S. 13 South, will run from Sept. 29 through Oct. 8, with 48 rides on the midway provided by Powers Great American Midways. The midway opens at 5 p.m. on weekdays, noon on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Fair Manager Eddie Pitzer said he was pleased by the number of people who took advantage of the new program this past Saturday that allowed people to submit their fair exhibit entries early.
"This being the first year that we did it, we anticipated that it would take a while to catch on," Pitzer said. "But we still had a good turnout. It was an extremely hot day, and sometimes the weather can have an effect when people come out.
"But we were will pleased, and I think in the future it will be something that we will want to continue to do. We received a lot of compliments from people saying it worked really good, and they appreciate us doing it because they just couldn't make it during the week."
Exhibits were taken again Wednesday afternoon from 4 to 8 p.m. and this morning from 8 to 10 a.m. Judging was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. today.
Pitzer said activity has picked up on the fairgrounds as vendors get in place and the carnival rides go up.
State Department of Labor officials began inspecting the rides Tuesday afternoon and continued on Wednesday, Pitzer said.
Opening-day entertainment includes the Almost Amazing Rex and Dana Ryan at 6 p.m. in the East Pavilion; K9s In Flight at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on the Center Stage; Extreme Illusions with Josh and Lea at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the West Pavilion; and the Western Gunfight Show at 8:30 p.m. at the Western Town.
The gates will open at 4 p.m. weekdays, except for Tuesday, Oct. 4, when they will open at noon for Senior Citizen Day. There will be free admission for anyone 60 or older.
The fairgrounds will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, for special populations. It will not be open to the general public during that time.
Gates will open at 11 a.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
General admission will be $7 for ages 13 and older and $4 anyone under the age of 13.
School tickets will be good for free admission between 4 and 6 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 3 and 4.
There is a $3 ride coupon on the back of the school tickets.
Carnival wristbands and individual ride tickets will be available for the Powers Great American Midways carnival.
Wristbands are valid for one day only, opening to closing. Admission to the fair is additional.
The wristbands will be $25 Monday through Friday, Oct. 3 to Oct. 7 and $30 on Saturday, Oct. 1 and 8, and Sunday, Oct. 2.
It costs $5 for four individual tickets or $20 for a sheet of 22 individual tickets. Rides require three or more individual tickets.
A wristband entitles the wearer to ride any mechanical ride, excluding Speed which requires a wristband plus three tickets.
A new program this year allows fairgoers to save money on both admission and rides by purchasing advance tickets at a discount at Walgreens -- up to a $5 discount on carnival wristbands and $2 on admission.
The deadline for advance ticket sales was midnight Wednesday.
Advance ticket sales have gone well, Pitzer said.
Tickets may also be purchased online at Etix and at the gate.
The fair is owned and operated by the nonprofit Wayne County Livestock Development Association.
For more information and a schedule, visit www.waynefair.com.