The 2016 La Plata County Fair, “Stocks, Bonds & Futures,” will officially open Wednesday, following pre-fair events that started during the weekend.

Events include 4-H livestock displays and multiple competitions, including quilting, canning, corn shucking contests and a man vs. horse tug-of-war.

“It’s pretty much the same as every year, I mean, we’ve got the exhibits, the animals, the 4-H – it’s all going be there,” said Amy Peterson, president of the La Plata County Fair Board. And that includes the two most consistently popular events, the Demolition Derby at noon Saturday and the Junior Livestock sale at 6 p.m. Saturday.

While the events have remained largely the same, a few improvements have been made to the venue. There is now a credit card machine for purchasing tickets to the derby and a new sound system for the pavilion, Peterson said.

“In the past it’s been kind of hard, I mean to do things the way they did them back in the ‘50s and ‘60s is basically what we’ve been doing, and now we’re just trying to upgrade.”

Upgrades, prizes and rental of space for the fair are paid for through partners and the vendors who rent spaces over the week, said Melinda Wood, a volunteer who oversees commercial booths.

The fair has nearly 50 vendors signed up for the festivities, including food, beverage, goods and a rocket simulator. “I have a few new vendors for this year, but this is about the same, numbers-wise, as we had last year,” Wood said.

The fair board requested that the judging of all open-class contests be closed to the public this year to avoid tampering, said Peterson.

“It is a real problem when you’ve got a judge there looking at something and judging it, and you’ve got the person who made it standing there looking right over their shoulders,” she said. “That can be a little intimidating.”

While there have been slight changes to the venue and logistics, the mission of the fair is to bring community members together, Peterson said. “People just like to come and eat the carnival food and play at the carnival and just enjoy having a good day off.”

A complete event schedule for the fair can be found on the La Plata County Fairgrounds website at co.laplata.co.us/government/departments/fairgrounds.

Luke Perkins is a student at Fort Lewis College and an intern at The Durango Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].

Schedule Highlights

Wednesday
Wednesday is largely taken up by event registration, but it includes a 4-H sheep show and judging and a swine showmanship contest.
Thursday
Features the showing and judging of swine, goats, poultry and the open class for a number of handicrafts. Exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Of particular note are the speeches and modeling for the fair royalty at 5 p.m., the draft horse competition from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a corn shucking contest at 7 p.m.
Friday
Exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. A number of additional animal categories also will be shown and judged before the man vs. horse tug of war from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the talent show competition at 7 p.m.
Saturday
Exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with judging of all bovine livestock taking place at 9 a.m. The highlight of the day is the Demolition Derby. Gates open at 10 a.m. and competition starts at noon. Also on slate are the 4-H barbecue cook off on the senior center lawn from noon to 5 p.m., crowning of fair royalty at 5:45 p.m., the Junior Livestock sale at 6 p.m. and the Fair Family Dance from 9 p.m. to midnight.
Sunday
The fair winds down with a Cowboy Church at 8:30 a.m. and exhibits from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everything is taken down, and all business concluded by 5 p.m.
All events except the Demolition Derby, 4-H barbecue cook off and the Fair Family Dance, all on Saturday, are free.
For a complete event schedule see the La Plata County Fairgrounds website at co.laplata.co.us/government/departments/fairgrounds.