The Washington County Agricultural Fair, opening Saturday, is packed with fun and 225 years of history
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The Washington County Agricultural Fair, taking place from Aug. 12 to 19, is marking its 225th anniversary this year. The rich history of the fair will be celebrated, and more than 2,000 animals and 2,600 agricultural exhibits will be on display. As always, a great lineup of music, food, entertainment and other activities will be on hand.
The events during the eight-day celebration, held at the Washington County Fairgrounds, include a demolition derby, daily petting zoos, nightly concerts, daily magic shows, baking contests, tractor pulls, market livestock sales, cheese auctions and so much more. (See washingtonfair.org for the full schedule.)
The fair is observing the 225th anniversary in a variety of ways. To start, festivalgoers receive a commemorative keepsake with their tickets. On a larger scale, a local artist was commissioned to paint an anniversary mural — running 56 feet and taking up the side and ends of a building — showcasing the history and evolution of the fair.
“It will depict scenes from the fair in the early late 1800s, when people would come to the fair in a suit and tie, versus what you see today,” said Wayne Hunnell, secretary of the Washington County Agricultural Fair Board.
Right across from the mural, a Memorial Plaza features engraved bricks in various sizes that people purchased to leave their legacy at the fairgrounds.
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The 225th Anniversary Parade will be held on Sunday, Aug. 13., at 2 p.m. There has not been a parade during the fair in over 15 years, so it will be a new event for many attendees. Carole DeAngelo, director of advertising and events for the Observer-Reporter, will announce the participants from a stage as the parade comes through the grandstands.
In honor of the 225th anniversary, a display in Expo Hall will showcase the history of agricultural equipment, from the horse-drawn era to modern-day tractors and balers.
“We have quite a bit of equipment coming into that area for display,” said Hunnell. “We are trying to organize it by year, or at least by decade, so it will show the change and type of equipment over the years.”
The opening ceremony will take place on Sunday evening, followed by a concert by Six Gun Sally at 7 p.m.
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The grand finale of the evening will be country music superstar Russell Dickerson, who will take the stage at 8:30 p.m. to end the evening with a bang.
Food is always a large draw at the fair and this year is no exception. A large food court with a canvas roof has 26 picnic tables available for seating. On the sides of the food court, vendors will be selling food from booths.
“Their grills or fryers will be located within those booths so people can order their food and wait at the picnic tables for their order,” said Hunnell.
Overall, around 25-30 food vendors, including food trailers around the fairgrounds, will be serving a variety of fare during the week.
Two popular local restaurants will be on hand, too. Hog Fathers, a barbeque restaurant, has a dining room/restaurant with air conditioning on the fairgrounds. Route 40 Deli serves homemade pies and made-to-order sandwiches.
Wine and spirits will be offered by three or four vendors, serving from 5 to 11 p.m. daily.
For agricultural information or shopping opportunities, visit the Expo Hall. Vendors are set up for information about agricultural topics, conservation and political topics. The retailers offer products such as sunglasses, T-shirts, jewelry and more.
Hunnell said that so many vendors applied for spots, the fair ended up with a waiting list of people wanting to secure booths inside the hall for the 225th anniversary.
“Our mission is to promote agriculture, teach agriculture and show what goes on,” said Hunnell. “We want to educate people on agriculture and where their food comes from.”
During the week of the fair, animals will be shown each day. The fair board works with the 4-H clubs to run the agricultural side of the fair, which includes space for market livestock to be seen and auctioned off on Friday and Saturday. Some proceeds from the auctions are donated to the 4-H Scholarship Fund or back to the Washington County Fair organization, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Midway carnival and games are open from 3 to 11 p.m., except on Saturdays when they open at 1 p.m.
The busiest night of the week is usually Wednesday evening, when the school bus demolition derby is held.
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Marching bands from 12 school districts open the night at around 6. Following their performances, the demo derby begins. “There is always a huge crowd that night,” Hunnell said. “I think last year we had around 13,000 people here.”
Students from the schools come out the Wednesday before the fair starts to paint and decorate their buses, according to the pre-determined theme. The school whose bus wins the derby is awarded $500.
Fair attendees can park in Trolley Museum parking lot and ride the trolley for a nominal fee.
“The trolley will drop them off right at the gate,” said Hunnell. “At the end of the day or when they are ready to leave, they just have to walk back down to the loading platform and they can take the trolley back to their vehicle.”
Tickets may be purchased in advance on washingtonfair.org. To buy a ticket at the fair, go to the trolley lot or the main gate.
In order to expedite entrance to the fair, this year a separate entrance line has been created for advance ticket holders, since the line to buy tickets is usually long.
“Advance ticket buyers can come to a separate line where it is a matter of seconds to get their ticket scanned and they can just walk right on through,” said Hunnell.
Visit visitwashingtoncountypa.com for more information.
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