Do you visit your local county fair? What are your favorite things to do?

Watching the sheep shearing was/is always fun.

I bet the sheep like it too :)

Trade shows and deep fried pastries. I don’t go on rides anymore.

Back when, I used to love the air rifle stand. You could spend so much money trying to win a cheap plastic toy gun.

Put it on your calendar: County fair starts Sept 15 where I live, goes until September 25.

Lots of livestock being shown:

Dairy Goats
Meat Goats
Sheep
Market Lambs
Steers
Swine of various types

Cattle:
Angus
Santa Gertrudis
Simmental
Hereford
Charolais
Shorthorns

@RedDeerGuy1 I love the fried vegetables yummo
@ragingloli At least it was a cheap plastic gun. The water guns were a lot of fun blowing up balloons.
@elbanditoroso Ours starts this month and I can’t wait.

I haven’t been to a county fair in years. When I was much younger I liked the rides and a funnel cake.

@RayaHope. Great question. I do not go to buy small things, but there is no money for the big purchase. Probably I will not soon be able to please myself as on canvas “The Merchant’s Wife at Tea” from the artist Boris Kustodiev.

I only go to the art exhibits and barns, but my husband likes the games and he usually gets a funnel cake or something.

I always look for the ShamWow commercial guy.

I’ve never been to the actual county fair. I don’t even know where it’s held. What we had was a local Catholic school that every June had a carnival fundraiser. It was popular with everyone I knew and is still a thing, as far as I know. In that case, it was all about the rides and the corn dogs. :)

I like going to hear all the old bands that were popular 40 and 50 years ago. The county fair circuit keeps those guys playing. Pablo Cruise, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Guess Who, Los Lonely Boys, and on and on.

Two years ago, the Marin County Fair arranged for the food trucks and vendors from the fair to set up a drive through food mall. We picked up corn dogs, funnel cakes, caramel corn, and pink lemonade. Afterward we all got tummy aches.

@gondwanalon I’ve seen three times !

I used to go for the Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie / sub roll !

Look at the crops and produce, like the largest pumpkin.

Funnel cakes and churros FTW!

I only went the one time, as a kid & then primarily due to the fact I did a cracking cow impression.

The resident bull wasn’t impressed, the look of death in his eye said as much.

@all Oh geez I forgot about the funnel cake!! to die for! I had one of those big Italian sausages last year and WOW was it hot! I could not take that.

Not since my kids got old enough to go alone.

I used to go to a County fair in NY that was every Labor Day weekend. That was when my daughter was younger, and then the Covid came and we haven’t been in about three years. Maybe we’ll go this year. It’s about an hour from home so it’s a bit of a feat. We’d go later on in the day, when the daytime crowd had gone home and the nighttime crowd wasn’t there yet.

What we also enjoy is in Connecticut, they have town Harvest fairs in the autumn. They’re just like the County fairs, with rides, food, games and attractions. I like the exhibits – seeing people’s quilts, kids’ art work, baked goods, crafts, etc. I like the harvest fairs, too, because autumn is not so hot, temperature-wise.

Whenever I go to any of these fairs, I feel like I need a shower when I get home. I feel like everything is grimy and dusty – the food stands, the rides.

@jca2 That’s a big part of the attraction, the dust, and grime. But I know what you mean that’s one of the first things I do when I get home is jump into the shower. Most likely I’ll have thrown up during the day somewhere so I brush my teeth also. But if you can go please do still a lot of fun.

@jca2 When I was little the fair rides would come to Reynolds Field in Hastings-on-Hudson for a few days. Do they still do local things like that in the towns and villages around that area? That’s in Westchester, I don’t remember which county you’re in. They had the ride the sizzler, the one that spins around and the gforce sucks you to the wall, a big slide, a ferris wheel, food vendors, I don’t remember what else.

@JLeslie: Sometimes towns have fairs that are put on by the local Fire Departments or churches.

I used to love them – the rides, food, animals, concerts I saw Chicago at one, the atmosphere of excitement. But I haven’t been in years.

One experience I remember: We were walking to our car on the dusty road behind a barn full of animals, and we came upon a man and his white bull. Just walkin’ along with the bull on a rope – kind of a funny sight. This was no ordinary bull, though. It was big. Make that…huge! When we came up beside it we were shocked to see just how huge. I’m 5’6”, and that bull’s shoulders were just a few inches taller than me! Amazing!

@smudges is probably one of these guys.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-MlvNsBsD47g%2FTqKcZoi0f1I%2FAAAAAAAACLY%2FQsJy2J6d4yc%2Fs1600%2Fbrahman-cattle-1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

^^^ Broken link @RayaHope 1 ^^^

@Tropical_Willie darn :( it was a picture of a big white Brahma bull.

@RayaHope Could have been, but I’ve seen them and I don’t remember this one looking like that. It didn’t have a big hump, the dewlap under the neck, or floppy ears. But the Brahma’s temperament would explain why the man was just walking along with it like a dog on a leash.
“Few breeds respond with as much docility and loyalty as the Brahman when treated kindly.”

Of course, if it had been hand-raised and treated kindly I would think any bull could be docile like a pet.

I have gone to local fairs since I was a child. I participated in many as well.

I love the sense of wonder to see the culture of the area and the people no matter what city, county, country.