The Muscatine County Fair is only a couple of weeks away and have several events to keep people entertained July 19 – July 23.
Muscatine County Fairgrounds Manager Kelsey Meyers said she can’t wait for that week.
“I love the fair and fair week,” Meyer said. “It’s fun to see all the excitement of the 4-H and FFA kids exhibiting their projects that they have worked on all year.”
Meyers also enjoys seeing the camaraderie amongst the kids.
“If another kid needs help everyone jumps in and works together – so that’s fun,” Meyers added.
This year well-known country artist Josh Turner will be performing Saturday, July 22.
“We booked him right after the fair last year,” Meyers said. “It’s been almost a year since we’ve had him booked. We’re really excited to see that finally come to fruition.”
A new event being held at the fair this year will be donkey races.
“The donkey races will be on Thursday night,” Meyers said. “It will be hometown celebrities.We have sent out personal invites to all the jockey riders.”
Another new event added this year will be a Princess Contest for girls 5 – 10 years old. This will be held before the Queen Contest Wednesday evening.
“It’s all the (girls) who are too young to apply for our queen contest and that should help our queen contest grow,” Meyers said.
To be a candidate in the queen contest, participants have to be between 16 and 21 years old, unmarried and have no children, she added.
The schedule for the livestock shows remains the same as last year. The goat show will kick things off Wednesday. The horse show will end the week on Saturday.
On Thursday, a Bacon Buddy Show will be held after the hog show is done.
“The state fair has been having it for a while,” Meyers said. “County fairs have been implementing them the past couple of years.”
Bacon Buddies is a hog show where 4-H and FFA kids are paired up with people who have intellectual or developmental disabilities ten years old and above, she said.
“Each participant will be paired with two youth mentors and a pig,” Meyers added. “The mentors will teach them about exhibiting a pig.”
Judges will assess how the youth mentors and participants work together, she added.
“We’ve had a really good response as far as people wanting to participate – volunteers and mentors,” Meyers said. “We’re very excited about that.”
Grandstand events schedule
Wednesday night will be the stock car races.
Thursday, July 20, are the donkey races.
Friday, July 21, is the tractor pull.
Saturday, July 22, is the Josh Turner concert.
Sunday, July 23, is the demolition derby at 11 a.m. and the trailer races at 3 p.m.
The log hogger auction will be held at 1:30 p.m., on Sunday.
The carnival rides will also be back this year, Meyers added.
Fun passes for the fair are available at the Muscatine County Fair office. Meyers urges people to buy their passes early.