The 141st Fayette County Fair is almost here, and once again this year the Record-Herald will have it covered.
From the opening ceremony this Sunday to the livestock sales on Saturday, July 25 and everything in between, stay with www.recordherald.com and our print edition for news, features and many photos.
The Record-Herald is also offering a “Fair Week Special” for new and current subscribers. For $65, subscribers receive home delivery and online access for six months, or $120 for one year. Call Record-Herald/Shoppers Guide circulation clerk Lou Ann Thompson at 740-313-0359 to start your subscription. Office hours for phone calls are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mail payment to Record Herald, 757 W. Elm St., Washington CH, Ohio 43160. This offer expires July 28 and must be prepaid.
This year’s fair may look a bit different due to COVID-19, however Senior Fair Board members have worked diligently to put in place precautions and guidelines in order to keep fair-goers safe. The board says it is committed to having as normal a fair as possible.
“We are taking many precautions and putting many things in place to stay as safe as possible,” said Senior Fair Board Vice President Doug Marine. “For those who are at-risk, please don’t come. This is not a year that the fair is for everybody and we fully understand that.”
This year, the senior fair board decided to lower the price of admission to $6, but it will no longer come with a ride ticket. Additionally, no weekly passes or wristbands will be sold this year, and the lunch ticket is still available at $10 for patrons who wish to come grab food from the fair but not stay all day. As long as the patron leaves within an hour of purchasing the ticket they will receive the full refund. All daily sales will be through the gate.
“The gate admission has been lowered and includes admission to the grounds,” Marine said in a previous interview. “This year rides are extra. For a ride band for the day, it’s an additional $12 dollars for those who want to ride, or they can now also just buy ride tickets to ride a specific ride on the grounds. This gives fair-goers more flexibility to have the chance to enjoy the rides even if they only want to ride one of them. In the past we have always done it so you pay for all the rides if you want to ride or not. This is something the board has expressed an interest in continuing as we go forward. What we did before was kind of an outdated system. Most county fairs nearby are what we call a ticket fair like this, rather than a pay one price.
The 2020 Fayette County Fair will be held from July 19-25 and will include the usual junior fair shows and sales with changes. Among the changes is a move from multiple sale days to one single sale day on Saturday, July 25 at 9 a.m. No animals will enter the ring and champions will take photos at a backdrop off to the side of the sale ring. Exhibitors will have one time through the sale ring. Currently, the order of the sale is dairy steer, beef steer, dairy feeder, meat goat, dairy goat, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, lambs and hogs.
Fair hours are Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and rides will operate daily from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Masks for fair-goers are encouraged but not required.
The fair queen will be crowned at the opening ceremony on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the grandstand with no charge for admission. The two final candidates for queen are Aubrey Schwartz and Victoria Waits.
