Grandstand events include the Seven Sessions of Sulky Harness Racing with the horses, a cheerleading competition, NPTA tractor pulling, and a High School Band Spectacular.
“The cheerleading competition is going to be very interesting,” said Darryl Riffle, chairperson of the Darke County Fair. “The High School Band Spectactular is something fairly new to us, but we will have bands from all over Greenville perform. They are still in the registration process now.”
One particularly special grandstand event is a concert by Foreigner on Sunday, Aug. 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $23 for grandstand seating and $25 for track area seating. Foreigner is a British-American rock band who had 16 #1 billboard top hits.
“We are extremely lucky and excited to have such a wonderful and nationally recognized band as Foreigner come and perform at the fair,” said Riffle.
There will be 400 vendors at this year’s fair. Everything ranging from Tupperware to Champion Windows will be at the fair, along with numerous food, jewelry, and other types of vendors.
Among the various vendors, the popular food vendors include Chester’s Foods, which will be selling the famous lemonade shake-ups with fresh strawberries, Frazier Fair Foods, which sells fried veggies, drinks, corn dogs, onion rings, bread sticks, tenderloins, sirloin tips, and dumplings, and Stuck’s Concessions.
“Stuck’s Concessions is pretty special because they serve all of the gooey, fatty and sweet treats that fairgoers usually like to eat,” said Riffle. “It’s a real pleaser for kids and adults alike. They will be selling things like deep fried Oreos, deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chocolate covered pretzels and marshamallows, fudge, chocolate dipped apples, peanut brittle, deep fried Coke, almond brittle, and chocolate crunch. So that will be a really popular booth, I’m sure.”
Other highlights include the Darke County Fair Parade of Champions, which will be Thursday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m at the Grandstand.
2012 also marks the 60th year for the Darke County Fair Flower Show. The idea of the flower show began in 1952. The flower show was then in the Fine Arts building of the fairgrounds. In 1954, the Darke County Fair Flower Show was awarded the Best County Fair Flower Show in the state of Ohio from the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs Inc. The Darke County Fair has managed to maintain that title every year since 1954.
This year’s theme of the flower show is “Diamond Jubilee.” The show will spotlight three women who were instrumental in making the flower show a success since 1954. The flowers will be on display in the flower department all through the duration of the fair, with the winners being announced Saturday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m in the flower department. The “Diamond Jubilee” recognition of the three women will be on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 11 a.m. in the basement of the fairground coliseum.
Along with the livestock shows and petting zoo, there will be plenty of family and kid oriented rides provided by the Kissel Bros, such as the Fun Slide and the classic Ferris Wheel.
In 2010, attendance peaked at 203, 789. In 2011, it was 206, 039.Gross revenue from the fair comes in at approx. $1.1 million each year.
“We hope to surpass that amount of revenue and attendance statistics with this year’s fair,” said Riffle. “Our ultimate goal with the Darke County Fair each year is to provide a fun, educational environment. On the educational side, I am referring to the awareness of the livestock, budgeting, and maintenance and management of the fair. We want this to be a fun, safe, family oriented summer activity that everyone can enjoy.”
For more information, contact the fair office at (937) 548-5044 or go to www.darkecountyfair.com.
About the Author