County fairs deliver fun, food for all
The screams! The swirling neon lights! The prize-winning chickens! And of course, the fried everything!
Arkansas isn’t even out of August before fair season kicks off with county fairs in every corner of the state cranking up the funnel cake fryers, rounding up riders for rodeos and fluffing up blue ribbons for winners of the livestock competitions. From Mountain Home to El Dorado, practically every town and county in between is home to a fair of some size.
Should you dare, you could start at the Izard County Fair in Melbourne on Aug. 5 and make your way through at least 60 county fairs before capping it off with the biggest of them all, the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock Oct. 11 through 20, sponsored by the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.
Fair expectations
What can you expect at Arkansas’ county fairs? Not all of them are alike, of course, but they all follow a fairly traditional pattern. The Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds will spin and whirl next to rides with names like Predator and Crazy Mouse and (gulp!) Mega Drop. What about games? You can take aim and squirt water at a target until a balloon pops or fish for a plastic duck to win an enormous stuffed bear or a stretched-out Pepsi bottle. Find a carnival of rides and games at Nashville’s Howard County Fair (Sept. 2-7) or the Northeast Arkansas District Fair (Sept. 19-28) in Jonesboro.
Maybe you think the games are for chumps and the rides are for those with stronger stomachs. The only thing you care about is the food. Basic offerings of hot dogs, snow cones, popcorn and lemonade are usually available no matter what fairgrounds you stroll.
Today, there is something of an arms race among fair-food Svengalis. Corn dogs as big as swords? Things that don’t normally belong on sticks, such as fried alligator, going on sticks. There is nothing wrong with the old, reliable funnel cake, trying to see how much powdered sugar you can wear without being embarrassed. Sample the treats at Camden’s Ouachita County Fair (Sept. 11-14) and McCrory’s Three County Fair (Sept. 17-21) serving Cross, Jackson and Woodruff counties. The friendly woman who answers the phone at the Polk County Fair (Aug. 28-31) in Mena promises, “standard fair food, you know, everything you aren’t supposed to eat. I’m sure we will be frying something.”
Beside eating yourself silly, Arkansas’ county fairs can entertain in a number of different ways. Mountain Home’s Baxter County Fair (Aug. 20-24) features music acts closing with The Buck Shot Band on the outdoor stage on Aug. 24. The White County Fair (Sept. 9-14) in Searcy has a different flavor of live fun as cars slam and crash in the Demolition Derby.
Who’s a good dog? Find out at the dog show at the Chicot County Fair (Sept. 16-20) in Eudora. At Arkadelphia’s Clark County Fair (Sept. 9-15) you can step right up to an animal and pet it at the petting zoo. Do you like to make secretive bets on who will walk away with a crown in pageant competitions? Many county fairs will satisfy this craving, including the largest county fair in the state — the Washington County Fair (Aug. 20-24) in Fayetteville.
Celebrating community and agriculture
You don’t have to remind Karen Haralson when fair season rolls around. A former longtime member of the State Fair board, Haralson is an active, fervent participant and promoter of the Pope County Fair (Sept. 7-14) in Russellville.
While Haralson is happy to confess that she “loves every minute” of her county’s fair, her focus this year will be — as it is every year — the exhibitions and competitions in Livestock, Creative Arts, Horticulture and Floriculture.
“I’m kind of a livestock administrator,” says Haralson, who raises cattle in Pope County and has been involved in her fair for 40 years. “In Livestock, we have competitions for chickens, rabbits, cattle, goats, sheep, hogs, and there is a horse show. In Creative Arts, we have people bring in jelly, quilts and paintings. We have Horticulture and Floriculture areas.”
The rides, food and live entertainment might grab the attention of most fairgoers, but rural communities around the state see a county fair as an opportunity to shine and recognize the work done on the farms. The battle for the blue ribbons is an intense one. Haralson estimates last year’s Pope County Livestock competition saw a whopping 800 entries with about 350 chickens up for judging.
Which begs the question, how do you judge one chicken better than another chicken?
“Our judges put hands on every chicken,” Haralson says. “They decide by feeling the chickens. How filled out is the chicken?”
It wouldn’t be right not to ask a veteran like Haralson about her favorite food at the fair.
“I try everything. But the corn dog is it. Hands down.”
For a listing of county fairs, visit cofairs.com/state/arkansas.