We love what we do

We’re really having some fun now! Our food and commercial vendors are pouring onto the fairgrounds. There are already carnival rides in the air. The entire “show” will arrive from Gaithersburg, MD on Sunday. Farmers are preparing their places in the barns on livestock hill. They will bring in the livestock on Sunday. Tons of sand are piled on the infield waiting to be compressed before the carvers assemble to create another wonderful sand castle. It just gets busier and busier and the fun and excitement build each day now.

The average person who will visit the 166^th Dutchess County Fair next week (Aug. 23 – 28) does not get to see all of this. They see only the finished product. For those of us in the business, the final preparations are almost as exciting as the fair itself. Despite gas prices and the troubling economic conditions, I believe we will have a record year if the weatherman cooperates. The county fair is an opportunity for us to leave worries and woes behind for a few hours. Our invitation to our guests is to just have you come and play. Come and learn about the value and importance of agriculture. Come and let your children and/or the child inside you enjoy some wholesome family entertainment. We have worked hard getting ready. We love what we do. We hope you will love your day at the fair.

A Little Something for Everyone!

I visited three of our sister fairs in New York State last week and once again am reminded why I love county fairs and am absolutely convinced that they are important for many reasons. The fact that we have been producing fairs for 200 years speaks to their importance. They have become part of our social fabric. It is the place where farm families socialized when farmers comprised the majority of our population. Fairs gave farmers the opportunity to select the best of their livestock, the finest products grown in their fields, and the nicest handmade articles and delicacies of the rural kitchen that mom could ready for the fair. The exhibitors and the exhibits still form the essence of our county fairs today. Our entries closed this week and our staff in that department worked tirelessly processing the THOUSANDS of entries.

Of course, a county fair is many things. So, while our exhibitors are getting their entries ready, families all over the Hudson Valley and beyond are starting to make their plans to join us from August 23^rd through the 28th in Rhinebeck, NY. Our advance sale ticket numbers are soaring because the public is getting the message that now is the time to buy tickets at the lowest prices. Just visit dutchessfair.com and save on admissions, concert tickets, rides and food.

From the hundreds of farm, exotic and Rain Forest animals to all of the entertaining free shows and attractions, from the museums, arts and crafts, hundreds of food concessionaires and commercial vendors, from the most spectacular carnival on the East Coast to big name grandstand entertainment, the 166^th Dutchess County Fair will once again offer something for everyone. We hope you are planning on coming to see for yourself!

Come and Play for a Day!

We’re really having some fun on the Dutchess County Fairgrounds now! In just three weeks, we will be in full operation. I love this part of fair production. After months and months of pre-event planning, you actually start to see the fairgrounds change, daily. The big tents go up. This weekend, we had our warm up to the fair with a major Holstein show. Finishing touches are made to our beautiful gardens. Everywhere you look; people are rushing around to put the final pieces of the puzzle together for our August 23^rd opening.

The county fair runs to the depth of my being. This past Sunday, I returned home to Boonville, NY and visited the county fair where it all began for me. We take the fair for granted because it has been part of our lives for most of our lives. After spending two days recently in New York City at Farmer’s Markets, I know not everyone does. As a matter of fact, there are many, many people who do not even know what a county fair is all about. Universally, however, in hundreds of one on one conversations with our friends in the city, there was great interest and enthusiasm when I explained what a county fair is all about.

If there is a more wonderfully wholesome family event on earth, you would have to take me there and show it to me. For the celebration of life itself in the variety of offerings, for the opportunity the fair gives us to showcase agriculture and help promote our local family farms, for the entertainment value, for the opportunity to come and play for a day, leaving all of the cares and worries of the world behind, there is just no place like the county fair. It is our hope that thousands in the area have marked their calendars for a visit to the Dutchess County Fair, August 23^rd through the 28^th.