WAYNE – With 4-H and FFA agriculture check-ins taking place Wednesday, the 97th annual Wayne County Fair is officially one day away.
Plan on visiting the Wayne County Fairgrounds Thursday, July 25 – Sunday, July 28 as gates will open at 9 a.m. between Thursday – Saturday and open at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Thursday night’s entertainment will feature the L4 Livestock Ultimate Bullriding Tour with the addition of Ultimate Bullfighting. President of the fairboard, Kevin Davis said the announcer Luke Kaufman is one of the CEO’s for the bullfighting.
“They got it approved where these guys can come and fight these Mexican bulls,” said Davis. “Then they accumulate points and they get qualified to go to the finals in Vegas in October. So, it’s pretty huge that he (Luke) got that approved and be able to come to Wayne and do that for us.”
Presentation of colors by Winside Sons of American Legion with the national anthem being performed by Eva Seal will kick off the evening at 7:15 p.m. with opening ceremonies taking place at 7:20 p.m. Bullriding will then take center stage around 7:30 p.m. Matt Merritt will be the entertainer again this year.
The 4-H horse show will open Thursday from the horse arena starting at 8 a.m. with the peewee bucket calf show (10 a.m.), 4-H bucket calf show (10:30 a.m.) and the 4-H/FFA dairy show/open class dairy show at noon. The open class sheep show and 4-H/FFA sheep show will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the 4-H/FFA goat show to follow at 4 p.m.
The River City Carnival will open their Midway at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Wayne County Troubadours will be the evening beer garden entertainment starting at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Season passes will go up to $50 on Thursday for all four days of the fair but there are day passes as well, according to Davis.
“If you just want a day pass, they’re only $15,” Davis added. “I mean where are you going to buy just a day pass for $15 bucks and you get into see the concert, or the tractor pull or whatever you want to go to for $15.”
Children 12 & under are free.
Some new items added for this year’s fair is a wash rack added to the back of the beef building and 13 more campsites expanding down the west road along with a lot of maintenance.
Moving into Friday, join the Fairboard during the Chamber Coffee at 10 a.m. from the fair office.
Visit thewaynecountyfair.com for complete details or like Wayne County Fair-Wayne, Nebraska on Facebook for more information. The fair office can be reached by calling 402-375-5531.