Washington County Fair moving to July in 2027
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MARIETTA -- As the Washington County Fair continued Monday, organizers and attendees discussed the fair’s upcoming move from its traditional Labor Day weekend dates to July next year, a change fair officials hope will provide more entertainment options and a less crowded schedule.
Fair board member Destiny Lisk said Labor Day weekend can be a difficult time to secure ride companies, entertainers and vendors because some businesses take the holiday weekend off or do not have enough employees available.
"All the decisions the board's made are in hopes of improving the fair," Lisk said. "Sometimes we're told no from other ride companies and entertainment, like grandstand events and people out in the midway, because Labor Day is the one weekend they take off."
Moving the fair has been discussed for years, including when Lisk was a youth exhibitor, she said. The board has received approval from the state to try the July dates for two years before deciding whether to make the change permanent.
"If we decide it's not for us, we'll come back to Labor Day," Lisk said. "There is a fallback plan."
The move will also expand the fair from its current schedule to six days, July 12-17, allowing officials to spread out attractions and activities that have previously competed for visitors' attention.
Lisk said events such as the Cincinnati Circus, a Columbus Zoo presentation and the cake-eating contest have sometimes been scheduled at or near the same time because organizers were attempting to fit everything into a little more than three days.
"It'll be a lot easier to attend," she said. "The exhibitors will get a chance to do stuff because this stuff will not be going on during their shows."
Doug Seaman, the parent of two exhibitors who show market steers and goats, said he hopes the longer schedule will allow the fair to offer more activities.
"I hope it brings a lot of opportunity for the fair to expand," Seaman said. "Instead of having a fair that's basically three-and-a-half days, have a fair that exists for all week, so we spread the fair out so things aren't so condensed."
Seaman said the additional time could create opportunities for more events in the barns and on the track.
The earlier dates will require his family to adjust when it purchases cattle, he said. Rather than buying calves born in March, the family will likely need to purchase larger steers born in January.
"It's not really a hindrance at all," Seaman said.
Holding the fair before the start of the school year will also relieve pressure on exhibitors who otherwise must miss school to care for and show their animals, he said.
Seaman said the change could make it easier for his family to take a vacation after the fair. Leaving the farm in late July or August is normally difficult because livestock projects require attention multiple times each day as the Labor Day weekend fair approaches.
"With the fair being mid-July and that being over, we'll have an opportunity in the latter part of July or first part of August to go on a family vacation," Seaman said. "That's a big plus for us."
The earlier dates could offer advantages for families but may also create challenges for some youth livestock exhibitors.
Mariska Benedict, a sophomore at Warren High School, said warmer July temperatures could make it more difficult to prepare market steers for competition. Steers tend to shed their hair during hot weather, while exhibitors generally want the animals' hair to appear full when they enter the show ring.
"I feel like it's going to be more of a challenge for all of us showmen trying to get their hair fluffed up," Benedict said.
Brittany Page, whose son shows cattle, said the July dates should make family vacations easier to schedule because the fair will no longer overlap with the beginning of the school year. However, families could face changes in when they purchase and begin raising their animals.
"It will affect our animal scheduling, and it might be more of an issue with getting our animals when it's a lot colder," she said.
Page said she is also concerned that vacations and other midsummer activities could affect attendance.
Lisk said the board is not attempting to abandon the fair's traditions but is willing to test the new schedule in hopes of strengthening the event.
"It's not a takeover. It's not changing tradition," she said. "We want to make it better."
Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com.