Get ready for midway thrills, carnival food, livestock and everything fun that goes along with the 82nd Columbia County Fair & Livestock Show Monday through Saturday.
Fair Manager Kayle Whiddon said there is something for everyone at this year’s fair. The midway’s delicious food includes traditional offerings like turkey legs and cotton candy, but there will also be some more unique items like garlic bread burgers and soul food.
Those items are sold only by local nonprofits which include groups such as churches, fraternities, FFA and more, she said.
“One reason to come is that when you buy food, you’re helping our nonprofits with whatever they’re using their money for,” she said. “You are supporting our community by buying food and it is also fun to come and see all the animals and what the children have been working with over the past year.”
CLICK HERE to view the fair website.
Midway rides include the Ferris Wheel, Zipper, Tornado, Bumper Cars and more including additional rides for children, she said.
The midway will also include a variety of games that test skills such as shooting hoops or throwing a ball at the right angle to land in a small fishbowl. As always, the popular Bingo games will take place near the entrance to the fair. Bingo is offered by Kathy’s Dance Art Studio as a fundraiser for the dancers.
Activities abound throughout the week during the fair, including various categories of competitions taking place under the pavilion. Beginning at 8 p.m. Monday, the Columbia County Fair Queen Pageant will take place, including the Junior Miss and Miss categories. Starting at 7pm on Thursday is Baby Miss, Toddler Miss and Tiny Miss. Starting at 19:00 on Friday there is a Junior Miss, Junior Miss, Pre-teen Miss and Teen Miss.
Starting at 18:30 on Tuesday, the talent show begins. Acts are already pre-registered.
One of the most popular activities is the dance competition at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, and no pre-registration is required, she said.
Also, there will be a Baggo Tournament starting at 6pm on Saturday.
For those interested in seeing art exhibits by people of all ages, check out the Art Pavilion, she said.
“Peoples Bank made coloring sheets for all the schools, Magnolia, Emerson, Taylor and Columbia Christian School for the second and third graders to color,” she said. “The Magnolia Junior Charity League will judge these. They will hang together with the other art that will be submitted.”
There will also be plants, watermelons, jellies, crocheted items and paintings, she said.
Of course, the Columbia County Fair wouldn’t be complete without the livestock that are the children’s responsibility for a year before being shown at the fair, she said.
All are welcome to attend the Hog Show starting at 7pm on Tuesday in the Livestock Barn. The goat, lamb and cattle show will start at 7pm on Wednesday in the barn and the Junior Livestock Premium sale starts at 6.30pm on Friday.
“Most of these kids have basically been working year-round with these animals, and it takes a lot of work, dedication, responsibility and discipline to show the animals,” she said. “My kids also show heifers and heifers, but steers are a whole different ball game.”
Whiddon, who didn’t grow up farming, said she had a lot to learn
about the process. She said her son Brody Whiddon, 12, won the steer show at the Arkansas State Fair, the last stop in the state’s livestock competition. Her other son, Braxton Whiddon, 13, shows horses, heifers and bulls.
“From June to October you have to keep the cows in a cool room to help them grow their hair and you get up at 5am to feed your animal and at 6.30 you take them out all dirt from them, rinse and dry. hair,” she said. “Then at 10 or 11 o’clock at night you take off the clothes and blow them up. And then the next day you start the whole process again.”
All of the animals that will be featured in the livestock section of the fair have their own care requirements, including pigs that must be washed daily to prevent their skin from becoming scaly and lambs whose feet must be wrapped to protect leg hair.
Her husband, Zack Whiddon, grew up farming so he can help when needed, she said. She added that she was bullied by her husband for her lack of knowledge in agriculture, but has learned a lot along the way.
Whiddon has had a long knowledge of the fair itself because she grew up in Magnolia and her aunt, Sonya Caldwell, was a former fair manager.
Although the job of being a fair manager is tough and involves a lot of moving parts, she said one of the most rewarding parts of the job is seeing how proud the agriculture students are when they see the animals and their hard work.
And of course, adults often have plenty of reasons to enjoy themselves at the fair, including the chance to interact, something the pandemic prevented, she said.
“This past year has been pretty much post-Covid-19, so you get to see people you haven’t seen and catch up with old friends,” she said.
Gates open at 5pm Monday through Thursday at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Monday to Thursday the grounds close at 10pm Friday the gates open at 6pm and the fair closes at 11pm Saturday the gates open from 11am to 4pm and then there will be a break where fairgoers will have to exit the park until it reopens at 5 p.m., Whiddon said.
Admission to the fair is $5. Children five and under enter free.
CLICK HERE to view the fair’s Facebook page.
