The Quay County Fair in Tucumcari resumes this week as it has for more than a century in Tucumcari, but this will be the third year in a row that it will be missing a carnival.
The fair on the city’s west side did not have a carnival in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, and other fair events were also curtailed during that time.
Justin Knight, vice president of the fair board, said the fair’s previous carnival vendor, Arizona-based Sun Valley Rides, usually plans its schedule a year in advance.
“We didn’t get it booked,” Knight said. “We couldn’t have it during our COVID period because of the governor’s rules, so they already booked at other fairs.”
Dallas Dowell, fair board president, said Sun Valley had a conflict with another fair, “and it was a little late to change our dates at that point. We had already hired judges and so on.”
Dowell said he hoped a carnival would return to the Quay County Fair in 2023.
“We would certainly like to have a carnival next year. It gets a lot more people to the fair and makes it more complete,” he said. “If Sun Valley can’t do it, we’re going to look for someone else.”
Last year, Quay County Fair allowed exhibitors of 6, 7 and 8-year-old cattle for the first time in a bid to increase the overall backlog. Six cattle exhibitors of that age participated.
Pam Slater, treasurer of the fair board, said last week that four exhibitors are 6 to 8 years old at this year’s fair.
The total number of livestock exhibitors at the fair continues to decline. A total of 49 animals appeared last year. That total is 43 this year, Slater said.
Drought conditions have ravaged the region for two years, but Dowell said he suspected that was the reason for fewer exhibitors at the fair.
“It’s a sign of the times, maybe,” he said. “There are fewer people who live in the country and fewer people who have places to keep animals.”
The fair opens at 5pm on Wednesday with the main shepherd show, then the pig show starts at 6.
The sheep and goat show clinic starts at 10am on Thursday, with the main goat and lamb shows starting at 6pm on the day.
On Friday, the rabbit show starts at 9am, with the bird show at 11am. The heifer and heifer show clinic is at 1 p.m., with a watermelon feed from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, which is Family Day, includes an Itty Bitty Rodeo at 11 a.m., a pet parade at noon, horseshoe racing at 1 p.m., and a quarter chase at 1:30 p.m. The typical point of the fair and the closing event is Junior. Livestock sale, which begins at 6 p.m
