The 27th annual Upshur County Fair will offer community members loads of family friendly fun on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The fair will provide free live entertainment, a variety of food vendors, craft shows, 4-H exhibits, a horse pull and much more.
Activities will take place at Upshur County's fairgrounds in Rock Cave, located behind the Banks District Volunteer Fire Department. The town is located 17 miles southwest of Buckhannon at the junction of Routes 4 and 20. The fair offers guests free admission and parking daily.
Food vendors scheduled daily include Plank's barbecue, Dories Concession featuring hotdogs, hamburgers and french fries and Rock Cave CEOs with cold-cut subs, ice cream and much more. Free popcorn also will be provided daily in the bottom floor of the Banks Fire Department by the Upshur County Fair Association.
The fair's opening ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. Friday. At the same time, the bounce house, county exhibits and sawdust box dig for buried treasure will open. Activities for Friday include Pappy's balloon animals made by clowns from 6 to 7 p.m., Mark's Ark Animal Show from 7 to 8 p.m. and children's story time from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Friday's story time will feature the book "Mmm, Cookies!" by Robert Muncsh. To accompany with the book's theme, children will be able to decorate a cookie and have cookies with milk for a snack.
Live entertainment for Friday includes bluegrass music by The Little Roy & Lizzie Show from 7 to 8 p.m. and 9 to 10 p.m. Jumpin' Tyme will take the stage from 8 to 9 p.m. The fair will close at 10 p.m. following The Little Roy & Lizzie Show performance.
Saturday will provide a full day of fun events starting at 10 a.m. and running until 10 p.m. For those looking for a colorful makeover, face painting will be available from 10 to 11 a.m., 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. Miniature horses will be at the fairgrounds to provide children free wagon rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mark's Ark Animal Show will return with a variety of exotic animals from 11 a.m. to noon, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., 5 to 6 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Children in attendance will be able to receive balloon animals from noon to 2 p.m. The community outreach tables will open from noon to 4 p.m. Fair attendants will not want to miss the magic and juggling show Saturday from 4 to 4:30 p.m. and 7 to 7:30 p.m.
Children's story time will return Saturday from 12:30 to 1 p.m. and 8:30 to 9 p.m. for another reading of "Mmm, Cookies!" by Robert Muncsh.
A horse pull competition will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday. Gary Bonnett, board member of the Upshur County Fair Ground, said competitors come from throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland to compete for the top four monetary prizes.
Saturday evening entertainment includes country music by the band Full Circle from 6 to 7 p.m. and 8 to 9 p.m. The Common Tradition Band will conclude the evening with a performance from 9 to 10 p.m.
The final day of the fair will begin Sunday with a car show from noon to 4 p.m. The competitors entered in the car show also will serve as judges to vote on the cars' quality. The car with the most votes and the queen's top choice will receive trophies.
On Sunday, face painting will take place from 1 to 2:30 p.m., Mark's Ark Animal Show will be from 2 to 3 p.m. and a balloon show will be from 3 to 4 p.m. The final children's story time will be at 1:30 p.m. for a reading of "Mmm, Cookies!"
Before the fair concludes, gospel music will be provided from noon until the fair's closing at 4 p.m. The Singing Hands will kick things off with a performance from noon to 1 p.m. Steve Peters and Praising Jesus will perform from 1 to 2 p.m., Joyful Servants will be performing from 2 to 3 p.m. and Soldiers of the Cross will conclude with a show from 3 to 4 p.m.
Prior to the Upshur County Fair, Mackenzie Brooke Harper was named the Teen Queen and Amy Livesay was named the Upshur County Fair Queen in the Upshur County Fair Pageant.
"We just hope everybody comes out and enjoys the fair," Bonnett said.
