Washita County Fair Board excited to bring fair back this year

After experiencing issues in holding the fair last year due to the COVID pandemic, the Washita County Fair is officially back for the 113th time.

Last year’s events were not entirely canceled; however, the scope of the entire fair was significantly scaled back due to COVID along with a rabbit disease according to County Fair Board member Jordan Cook.

This year the county fair will bring with it once again something that the whole family can enjoy-. whether that’s entering one of your creations as an exhibit, spending some time at the petting zoo, or participating in the livestock show.

“If you’ve got a craft or something, we can find the category to enter it, so I’m really excited to have that back. That’s a big draw, and everyone can walk through that exhibit building and see the things,” Cook said. “Basically, if you have it in Washita County you can bring it to the fair and enter it!”

Those at the fair can also enjoy livestock shows such as the master showmanship where kids who are the top showmanship person in their category go on to compete against other top showmanship categories, getting the chance to be awarded the overall showman for Washita County.

Businesses will also get a chance to partake in the fair as a new opportunity is being offered to county businesses so long as they have a sales tax ID or are not-for-profit.

“You can have a booth set up for free, and it doesn’t matter what you have. You can come up, you just need to call us,” Cook said. “The more the merrier! We really want people from the community to come out and be involved. We haven’t really done that before, and we’re just hoping to draw some new vendors and just make it kind of a fun experience for everyone.”

Participants also get the chance to spend some time listening to some music by the Dean Jackson Band or enjoy some pulled pork sandwiches for a dollar.

“It doesn’t matter if you are a toddler or up to 110. There’s something for you. We’ve got bingo too-the Chamber does bingo,” Cook said. “The Masons Lodge, they have a food booth. There’s just something for everyone.”

While last year’s event was not outright canceled, having to significantly cut out portions of what was available also cut the attendance rate significantly.

While it is usually an event filled with 500- 1000 people a day, last year’s event saw less than 50 people according to Cook.

While the impact of COVID has lessened for individuals in a setting such as a fair, on the business side of things not everything has returned to normal.

“We had a carnival in 2019 and years prior. COVID was really hard on that particular carnival,” Cook said. “We found out at our last meeting, which was July 12th, that [the carnival] didn’t have the funds available to come out this year… I’m not sure how not having the carnival is gonna hurt us. That was a big draw.”

Although the Fair Board looked for alternatives to the carnival, they were not able to find a suitable replacement on such short notice. Thus the plan to allow businesses in the county to set up a free booth was developed.

As of now, there are no restrictions or guidelines in place concerning COVID, however, Cook said that all depends on how the situation turns out.

“As of now, that’s one of the things that changes. We’re just one outbreak away from having to have everyone mask up. It’s just a day-by-day type of deal,” she said.

Overall, Cook said that the board is excited to once again hold the County Fair, and he is hopeful that turnout for the event will once again reach the 500-1000 people a day threshold that they had seen in years past.

“I think everyone’s really excited that it’s going to be a more normal year. Last year, even though it was just the livestock we had to have masks and make sure that we had a bunch of signs up,” Cook said. “I just think everyone is really excited that we’re going to have a more normal fair, get out and see people, and be able to interact with them.”

The Washita County Fair officially begins Wednesday, August 25 and will continue through Saturday, August 28.