The Highland County Fair Is August 31 to September 3

Hi! This is Caroline Smith.  I’m the Secretary of the Highland County Fair Board and I’d like to tell you a little bit about the upcoming fair.  The parade is on August 31 at 6pm and the fair runs through Saturday, September 3.

The theme of this year’s fair is Stars, Stripes and Summer Nights.  That certainly will lend itself to a great variety of floats in this parade.  That’s always one of the best kick-offs that there can be and the parade leaves at 6 o’clock from The Highland Center.

Wednesday is Family Night at the fair.  Probably both children and adults will be excited that the monster trucks are coming back for a show at 7:30.  There are going to be two opportunities for children to actually ride on The Virginia Giant.  You need to consult your Fair Guide for information on how to do that.

On Thursday, there’s going to be the ever popular demolition derby.

Friday is a busy day at the fair.  For music, we are very excited to be welcoming David King back with his Elvis Experience at 5 and 6:30pm on Friday.  The Little Switzerland Cloggers will be performing at 7:30 in the High School Gym.  The main grandstand performance on Friday night will be the Shenandoah Valley Tractor Pulling Association with a full slate of garden tractors competing to see which is the toughest.   There’s going to be an Antique and Stock Tractor Pull that will start as soon as the lawnmowers are finished.

Saturday afternoon the famous Mr. Ben’s Bubble Bonanza will return to the Big Tent.  In addition, on Saturday evening there will be a special exhibit called The Underground Classroom.  It’s a big trailer that will pull in near the Big Tent and be available from 4 to 6pm and it will tell everyone about the exciting life underground.   No, it’s not caves, it’s dirt!   Our Saturday night Tractor Pull is presented by Mountain Boyz and will be just the return of a standard favorite for everyone.

Of course, agriculture is the heart of the fair.  During the day there are youth livestock shows including the popular Sheep Costume Show, the Obstacle Course and Pet Classes.  There are lots of exhibits of food, flowers, crafts and hunting and fishing trophies.

I’ve been involved with the fair ever since I moved to Highland County and I think it’s one of the most important events we have.  It’s different from the Maple Festival in that it welcomes people to come home.  So, there are family reunions, there are kids who come back, and it’s just a nice Highland County based event that seems to be enjoyed by great masses of people every night.

You can pick up a Fair Guide at almost all of the stores in Highland County.  This year’s Fair Guide is dedicated to Debbi Stephenson and Fred Whitelaw and they are two of our longest serving department heads.   Debbi’s been in charge of sewing, and now quilts, for 23 years and Fred is serving his 20^th year and they’re just perfect examples of people who give time and share their knowledge with people at the fair.

Our website is www.highlandcountyfairva.com and we’re regularly posting information on Facebook.

This is Caroline Smith for Allegheny Mountain Radio.