PORT ANGELES — Time to dust off the cowboy boots and get back to Clallam County’s country roots.
The Clallam County Fair begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the fairgrounds in west Port Angeles.
The theme for this year’s fair is “Cowboy Boots &Country Roots.”
Thousands expected
Joel Winborn, county parks, fair and facilities director, said he expected a four-day turnout of close to 30,000.
“I’m excited about it,” Winborn said after the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday.
The annual fair offers family entertainment with myriad exhibitors, vendors, musical performances, grandstand shows and a carnival.
Daily admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 62 and older and students 13 to 17, $5 for kids 6 to 12 and free for children younger than 6.
A four-day pass is $24 for adults, $13 for teens and seniors, and $12 for kids.
Most grandstand events are included with the price of admission.
Tickets to Sunday’s demolition derby are sold separately for $11 outside the yellow gate on the west side of the fairgrounds.
All gates will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Buildings within the fairgrounds at 1608 W. 16th St. will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Carnival hours are from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Here’s a rundown of grandstand shows for the 2016 fair:
• The 4-H Western Games, where riders and horses race around barrels and perform other maneuvers, will begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
• The Draft Horse Show, where horses demonstrate their pulling skills, will hit the arena at 2 p.m. Thursday.
• Knights of the Realm, a three-hour theatrical jousting show, will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday and 5 p.m. Friday.
• The Logging Show, where Northwest ax men demonstrate their chopping and sawing skills, will begin at noon Saturday.
• Rodeo events, including bull riding and team roping, begin at 5 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
• The car-smashing demolition derby will get underway at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Live music will be played throughout the fair from the Sunny Farms Main Stage and Wilder Auto Community Stage.
Animal shows, gardening demonstrations and hobby and craft exhibits will be available throughout the event at various barns at the fairgrounds.
Winborn said the fairgrounds maintenance staff had done an “incredible job, as they always do,” in preparation for the fair.
He told commissioners that attendees might notice unfinished capital projects at the floral barn and goat barn extension.
“You may hear a grumble or two,” Winborn said.
“But everything is safe.”
“In 2017, they’re both going to be incredible,” he said of the old barn buildings.
A special supplement about the 2016 Clallam County Fair is included in Wednesday’s edition of the Peninsula Daily News.
The 20-page section features a list of grandstand shows, demonstrations, musical performances, food vendors, animal shows, fair royalty and a map of the fairgrounds.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Karen Sage of Joyce, a member of the Lincoln Heights Garden Club, categorizes incoming flowers Tuesday in preparation for judging at the Clallam County Fair in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
