JENNINGS COUNTY — The Jennings County Fair will be one of the first county fairs in the state to be held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will officially be open to the public June 14 to 19.
Some agricultural competitions will be held on June 12 and 13, but they will not be open to the public.
Jennings County Purdue Extension Youth Education Director Melessa Wiesehan explained the fair operates simultaneously in two sections. The agricultural section conducts related events, displays and competitions under the supervision of the 4-H program and Purdue Extension Services and the entertainment section operates the rides, games and grandstand events under the supervision of the county board of commissioners and the Jennings County Fair Board.
Last year’s agricultural section was very limited, and only virtual, while the entertainment section was canceled.
“We are working with the Jennings County Board of Health to make sure we stay within all the current safety measures,” Wiesehan said. “While we will observe safe distance measures, at this point, masks will not be required during the fair.
“Until a couple of weeks ago, we did not even know whether we would be able to have an in-person fair this year. I am very proud of our staff and volunteers who worked all year to develop two plans for operating this year’s fair. One plan was developed for a virtual fair and the other for an in-person fair. We are now ready to go.”
Jennings County Fair Board President Randy Shepherd said lots of planning went into this year’s events.
“We started working on this year’s fair the same day last year’s fair was cancelled and I think this year will help make up for last year’s loss,” Shepherd said.
While there will be many of the usual entertainment features this year, Shepherd added, “we are also going to pull out some big new surprises.”
He said the board is now completing arrangements for a professional rodeo and hot-air-balloon rides to add to the event schedule.
Poor Jack Amusements will operate the midway rides.
Scheduled grandstand events will include a tractor pull, Mini Sprints, TQ Midgets, KOI Drag Racing with Flat Drags, KOI Drag Racing with Mud Slides, and a demo derby.
Free music events will include Dustin Huff, Caleb Daugherty, Keith Swinney, Night Owl Band and Sounds of Summer.
“I think the fair is going to be as normal as possible, and I think that, after the year we have all had, normal is what everyone of all ages needs right now,” Extension office manager Deidre Wagster said.
Final schedules for the 2021 fair will be ready next week.
“I think the fair is going to be huge this year based on the amount of phone calls we’ve had. People are ready for this. I have already told all the food venders to order extra food because I think they will need it,” Shepherd said.
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Organizers said the Jennings County Fair schedule will soon be posted on jenningscountyfair.com.
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