The sounds of revving engines and the smell of deep fried fair food will fill the air as the Brown County Fair returns later this month.
After Saturday night, Aug. 3, it’ll all disappear for another year.
Fair activities began this past weekend with the 4-H Horse and Pony Club riding competitions and shows. A couple other animal shows also are taking place before fair week officially begins: the cat show on Sunday, July 21, the rabbit show on Tuesday, July 23, and the dog shows on Friday and Saturday, July 26-27.
The Brown County Fair Baby Contest is this Saturday, July 20 at 6 p.m. and the fair queen and princess pageant will happen on Sunday, July 28 at 8 p.m.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Grandstand entertainment opens Saturday, July 27 with the demolition derby.
Carnival rides and food booths will start operating Monday night, July 29.
Visitors will notice some changes in the grandstands and in the main fairgrounds area.
In May, new bleachers were installed at the grandstands, funded by part of a $2 million bond the county took out last year for various projects in the county.
“Everybody should be happy with them,” said Mark Stargell, the Brown County 4-H Fair Board president. “There’s more space. You can get wheelchairs up on it. That, we couldn’t do before.”
The new bleachers will hopefully draw larger crowds to the grandstand events, Stargell said.
In the grandstand
The demolition derby will be first up on Saturday, July 27 — an earlier slot in the schedule than normal. It was moved to a weekend because drivers are less likely to participate during the week due to work schedules, Stargell said.
The event also will feature a kids Power Wheels demo derby. There’s a $15 entry fee for the kids’ demo and $40 fee for the actual derby. To watch, it’s $10 for ages 12 and older and $5 for children ages 4 to 11. Spectators 3 and younger get in free.
Last year, Bumper Thumper Promotions was involved the derby and brought a “good following,” Stargell said. That company is back this year.
Another change folks might notice in the grandstand is the absence of the Hillbilly Ninja Warrior contest, which featured an obstacle course built by county employees and volunteers. The county’s Wellness Committee hosted the event for the last three years, but it’s unable to do so during the fair this year due to other conflicts.
In its place will be the Tuff Truck Challenge, which is a timed obstacle course for trucks featuring four different classes. That will happen on Monday, July 29. There’s a $25 entry fee per class.
Admission is $10 for ages 12 and older, $5 for kids aged 4 to 11 and free for kids 3 and under. The same admission prices have been set for the quad and motorcycle drags on July 30; the truck and tractor pull on July 31; motocross on Aug. 1; and the mud bog race on Aug. 3.
The Brown County Rodeo will happen on Friday, Aug. 2. Admission for that is $12 for adults, $5 for ages 4 to 11 free for kids 3 and younger.
All events in the grandstand will begin at 7 p.m.
Previously, the rodeo has happened before the fair. The hope is that moving it to during fair week will bring a bigger crowd and more money.
“This is our last run for it, basically,” Stargell said.
“It hasn’t been a major loss, but we haven’t made any (money) on it. If you have zero, then you haven’t lost and you haven’t made, you consider that a good night.”
Rodeo is $50 per contest except for mutton busting (riding a sheep), which is $15. Events include barrel racing, bull riding and breakaway roping.
Money plays a factor in scheduling grandstand events, Stargell said.
“Basically, if we’re not making money on them, we can’t afford to do them. We have to find something else to do,” he said.
“It’s kind of like the Tuff Truck challenge. We’re going to start off small this year and see if we get people to participate in it, then, next year, take it out even farther if we can get people to be interested in it and do it.”
Weather can also play a factor in the success of grandstand events. The last three grandstand events last year were cancelled due to rain. But by cancelling events ahead of time, Stargell said the fair saves money. “That way we’re not out any money,” he said. “Basically, we’re holding onto the money so we don’t lose it.”
One of those grandstand events, a performance by Indiana country musician Cody Ikerd, ended up being moved to the pavilion stage. “We were charging for that and when we moved it, we couldn’t charge. We lost our butt on that one,” Stargell said.
Despite cancelling those events, the fair still ended the year financially in the black.
But to make the fair successful this year, Stargell said nice weather and lots of people attending events is needed.
When Stargell first started with the fair board, he was told that if the parking field is filled with cars all the way back to the cemetery property line, they could expect to make money that night. But that’s not been the case the past two years, he said.
“We’ve done alright, we’ve not gone in the red, but family members filled a car, then they came, they ate and they left,” he said, without attending any grandstand events or riding rides.
Stargell said he hopes people will stick around a bit longer to see what else the fair has to offer besides food and conversation.
Food and rides
There will be new food for folks to try this year.
One booth will feature six different smoothie flavors, Stargell said.
The Extension Homemakers will be selling root beer floats in the Exhibit Building, where the 4-H non-animal exhibits are.
On the main strip, the Brown County YMCA will be serve a variety of summer classics: Tenderloins, fried potato chips, fried mushrooms, fried dill pickle chips, root beer floats and cold watermelon slices.
Other fair favorites, like the 4-H Lick Creek Love Bug booth, will return to serve fried potatoes and ribeye sandwiches. Local political parties will sell fish sandwiches and cobbler with ice cream.
Parking will cost $2 per car again this year. That money will go to the fair board and the Brown County 4-H Council for property upkeep and activities for children, like 4-H camps.
The same carnival company will return to operate rides. Unlimited carnival ride bracelets will be $18 each and only available Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. On other nights, you can buy tickets on a per-ride basis.
Brown County’s fair usually takes place toward the end of July and beginning of August before the start of school, which means it overlaps a bit with the Indiana State Fair, which will start Friday, Aug. 2.
When the decision was made to move the state fair up in the calendar, state officials told local fairs that they would check back within a couple of years to see how the move had impacted them, but Stargell said they have not had a follow-up conversation. He thinks the timing of the state fair does affect the local fair.
“Some of our exhibits in the Exhibit Building, they basically get in there to get judged, then they’re turning right around, loading them in a vehicle and taking them straight up there,” Stargell said.
This year, the only area county fair competing with Brown County’s is Morgan County. Monroe County’s had been the same week, but it moved to earlier in the summer this year.
Stargell hopes the community comes out for “the biggest week of Brown County.”
“That’s where a lot of people come to communicate and see each other. That’s why they told me to keep it going,” he said.
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Friday, July 19: This is the deadline to register for the Brown County Fair Junior-Littles pageant (ages 3 to 15, $10 fee) and the Brown County Fair Queen contest (ages 16-22, $50). The deadline is midnight for mailing or 4 p.m. for drop-off at the Brown County Purdue Extension office, 802 Memorial Drive in Nashville.
Friday, July 26: Enter your Open Class exhibits (non-perishables) between 4 and 7 p.m. at the Exhibit Building. Anyone is welcome to exhibit and compete for ribbons. Categories span a wide variety of interests such as arts and crafts, photography, woodworking, cake decorating and more. If you can’t get there Friday night, late entry is Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m.
Saturday, July 27: Enter your perishable Open Class exhibits such as flowers, crops and foods between 10 a.m. and noon at the Exhibit Building.
Tuesday, July 30: Enter your homemade pie in the pie contest. Pies are due in the Exhibit Building between 5 and 6:15 p.m. Judging will begin at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
Read the rules and get entry forms in the free Brown County Fair Preview guide, available at the newspaper office, Extension office or other public buildings.
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