Rides, food, 4-H animals, grandstand events and much more have filled the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia. The fair begins today and runs through Aug. 7.

The fair will follow state COVID-19 guidelines, and take extra precautions to keep fairgoers safe, such as having extra hand sanitizer stations throughout the fair and encourage social distancing. Masks are encouraged to be worn for all unvaccinated guests.

Kala Benton, senior fair board director for the Agriculture Society of Greene County, said they are “thrilled to be able to have a full fair once again this year, especially for all of the kids in the 4-H program, who missed the opportunity to show their projects last year.”

“Having kids work so hard all year long for these projects, and unfortunately not being able to showcase them, makes it that much more exciting for them to be able to show off their hard work this year,” Benton said.

Brandon Barr, 19, graduated from Beavercreek High School this past year and is headed to study at Wilmington College in the fall. Having been involved in 4-H his entire life, Barr was one of the many who missed their opportunity to show off their hard work at the fair last year.

With this being his final year of eligibility in the junior class, he is full of excitement to show his animals this upcoming week at the fair.

“It is cool to see how everyone is coming back together after last year,” Barr said. “Everything was hard last year with COVID, but everybody is coming back together to make sure this year is really good and makes up for what we missed last year.”

Fair officials expect 55,000-65,000 guests to attend the annual event this year.