Hands-on agricultural production exhibits and a couple new grandstand events ? including an opening night country music concert ? are being counted on to give this year’s Cowley County Fair a fresh look, fair officials said Wednesday.
"We want people to know the fair isn’t the same thing every year," board member Jim McClung said at a preview event for news organizations. "We want the perception that things are different."
A main difference will be on display tonight when a country music show by Ty England follows the bull blowout in the grandstand area. England’s show is set for 9:15 p.m at Winfield Fairground.
Brad Fox, who is overseeing the performance, estimated it had been 10 or 15 years or so since there had been a concert offered in front of the grandstand audience. A free concert area has been offered in the midway area the past several years.
The stomper 4×4 event at 1 p.m. Saturday is another new event. The mud flinging, drag race format is expected to create so much commotion that spectators will not be allowed in the first few rows of the grandstand, McClung said.
Fair goers are likely to notice other differences, including a drop in the number of participants in this year’s demolition derby Saturday night. The event, which is always the fair’s biggest draw, will have only 19 competitors this year, down from 40 last year.
Record participation peaked at 70 drivers years ago, according to demo derby official Doug Platter.
A number of issues have likely contributed to the drop in competitors, he said. Higher fuel prices, a growth in the number of demo events in the area and the higher price for scrap iron which makes selling old cars a better option than using them in a derby, are a few reasons fair officials gave.
Participation is up for the IPRA sanctioned rodeo Sunday and Monday. Last year there were 158 competitors and this year there are 165 competitors.
Overall fair organizers are certain the Saturday night’s demo derby and Friday’s figure 8 races will provide plenty of entertainment and be just as exciting as any year prior.
"It gets pretty hectic," Platter said. "It makes for a good night."
They are also committed to keeping spectators in grandstand seats.
"It’s what we in the grandstand area that pays for the fair," McClung said. "It’s the money collected for the grandstand that filters out to pay for everything else."
This year the midway stage will feature a traveling milking parlor which will give visitors a chance to see the milking process first hand. Kids will also have a chance to sit in a tractor cab and get a feel for being out in the field.
Fair officials said they’ve seen an increased effort to include education on agricultural production at other fairs around the state. Because of that a bigger effort is being made locally to include more production-based exhibits.
The fair runs nightly from 6 p.m. to close at the fairground in west Winfield.
