Sedgwick County Fair | July 20-23
By Travis Mounts, TSnews
The Sedgwick County Fair gets started next week on Wednesday and will run four nights, July 20-23.
Commercial and food booths will open at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, but the Fair really begins with the Sedgwick County Fair parade, which will begin on Main Street. Line-up at 6:30 p.m. for the parade begins an hour beforehand, and the parade will leave Cheney High School and go south on Main Street to the railroad tracks at Santa Fe.
The Molly Neeley Trio returns to the Fair for a second consecutive year. Neeley and her group will perform a free show starting at 7:30 p.m. on the Open Air Stage.
Of course, 4-Hers will be busy at different times of the day. Some of them start early on Wednesday, with the 4-H Horse Show. That takes place at 8 a.m. at the Grandstand Arena. A lot of other check-in for 4-H will take place on Wednesday.
The Pride of Texas Carnival will operate all four nights of the Fair, starting on Wednesday. Hours are 6-11 p.m. nightly. You can purchase all-you-can-ride bracelets in advance at www.ourcountyfair.com, or they are available on the midway.
Check-in for some of the Open Class competitions will run 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday. There will be a full round of check-in on Thursday morning. For exact times, check your Sedgwick County Fair Guide. If you do not have a fair guide, you can read it online at tsnews.com.
There will be a lot of 4-H judging on Thursday. The 4-H buildings on the north side of the fairgrounds will close to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday, and will reopen after judging late in the day. The schedule of 4-H shows that day includes the dairy goat show at 8 a.m., the beef cattle show at 11 a.m., the meat goat show at 2:30 p.m., and the swine show at 7 p.m. These events are open to the public and take place at the livestock pavilion on the southeast corner of the fairgrounds.
Thursday’s nighttime shows include the first round of Fair’s Got Talent at 7 p.m., followed by the band Groove 42 at 8:30 p.m. These events are free at the Open Air Arena.
Thursday’s big show is the Ranch Rodeo, back for a fifth year. It will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday. If features team competitions that highlight the tasks ranchers actually complete while working on today’s ranches. Ten teams are expected to compete. Advance tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids, and can be purchased at www.ourcountyfair.com. Tickets at the event are $10 for adults and $8 for children.
The food booths will be open starting on Wednesday. Returning favorites include the Cheney United Methodist Food Booth, D’Mario’s Pizza, D&J Pronto Pup, the Delano 4-H Club sno-cone stand, M&M Concessions, Aussie Cakes, Squat and Gobble, Kandy’s Koffee, Wok Hei Noodle House and Ken N Barzie’s Rollin Diner. New this year are Cousin Hector’s, serving taquitos en vaso and other Mexican dishes; the Original Big Lemon drink stand; and Battered and Fried, with chicken strips, fish and chips and more. The Trinity United Christian Food booth will not be open this year.
The beer garden will be open nightly by the Open Air Stage.
