7 reasons not to miss Montgomery County Fair

The Montgomery County Fair — an annual celebration of agriculture complete with deep-fried goodies, rides and nightly entertainment — will have its final run downtown next week.

>> Create the perfect deep-fried lunch at the Montgomery County Fair with special lunch deal all week

But this is definitely not the end; just a new beginning. The fair will move to its new location at Arthur O. Fisher Park in Jefferson Twp. for 2018 (Mark your calendars for July 9-14, 2018).

Here’s what you need to know if you plan to check it out.

THE WHEN AND WHERE

The 165th Montgomery County Fair kicks off Monday, July 10, and continues through Saturday, July 15, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, located at 1043 S. Main St. in Dayton, across from Miami Valley Hospital.

>> Your guide to county fairs across the region

>> Why the Roundhouse isn’t round, and other facts about the cherished fairgrounds building

#FAIRwellonMain

No, it's not the final fair, but it is the end of an era at the downtown location. On that note, help the fair capture this final farewell by sharing your favorite fair photos and memories on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FAIRwellonMain

>> A look back at the Montgomery County Fair before its final run downtown

THE MOUTHWATERING FOOD

There’s just something about fair food...

Let us tempt you with a few of these deep-fried, food-coma-inducing, sugary sweet treats you can find at this year’s fair. This is just a sampling of some of the fair food finds:

Yum!

LUNCH DEAL!

We’ll let you in on a little secret. If you work downtown or are craving deep-fried Oreos and Tornado Fries with a side of funnel cake for lunch so much that you don’t mind a drive, head to the fair on your lunch break.

Get free admission to the fair for lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays only.

Then you can hop from vendor to vendor to assemble the perfect lunch.

>> VIDEO: The 5 best things we tried at the Darke County Fair

>> RELATED: EWWW: We ate deep fried bugs at the Ohio State Fair

>> RELATED: Could you eat your way to the bottom of this big bucket of oozing...

SPECIAL DEAL FOR VETERANS, SENIOR CITIZENS

On Monday July 10 only, Veterans/Senior Citizens Day get half-price admission.

General admission is $8, which includes parking if available and grandstand admission that evening. Children 6 and under are free with paying adult.

>> RELATED: 5 things you should know about the fairgrounds

THE RIDES

Part of the fun of the fair is the rides. Rides open daily at 1 p.m. Consider a ride armband for $20 to ride all the rides that day as often as you’d like.

Rides are planned to be open from 1-5 p.m. daily and 6-10 p.m. in the evening. But ride hours are subject to change.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

Tons of entertainment is planned nightly at the Grandstand.

Here are some highlights:

>> PHOTOS: The fairgrounds in pictures

>> 7 buildings part of the first phase of new fairgrounds