Floyd County Fair returns at full force; runs July 13-17

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Last year, the Floyd County Fair was back — and it was a good one.

This year, the fair will be back — in full force.

From a new live Sea Lion Showcase, to the always-popular Demolition Derby to music acts that cover nearly every modern genre, the Floyd County Fair will have it.

Fair Director Amy Staudt said she is excited for people to see the newly built Swartzrock Community Center on the fairgrounds, which she said was the last piece of the rebuilding puzzle from the tornado three years ago.

“We’re back strong. We hope everyone comes out and we’re praying for good weather,” Staudt said.

The Floyd County Fair is scheduled to run from July 13-17.

An EF-1 tornado smashed through the fairgrounds on Memorial Day 2019 and took down several buildings.

The following summer the fair was scaled down due to COVID-19 precautions, with family member only allowed on the fairgrounds to attend the 4-H and FFA shows.

Last year the fair went on as planned, and although it was somewhat limited due to the rebuilding not being complete, it was considered a success by the Floyd County Fair Board.

This year there will be more exhibits, more entertainment and more fun.

County fair staples will include spectacles such as the always-popular demo derby and the Figure 8 races. Once again the fair will include the Tuff Trucks, which debuted last year and were so well-received that the board decided to bring them back.

Musically, there will be wide selection of live performers. Friday’s concerts will include regional favorites, with PV and The Phantoms starting at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Pork Tornadoes at 8:30 p.m. Saturday’s concerts will include Sugarfoot, starting at 7 p.m. with The Fortunate Son, a CCR Tribute group, starting at 9:30 p.m.

“We’re breaking into a few different genres,” Staudt said. “We’re excited to get some of those back and get our concert series going again.”

Other events new to the Floyd County Fair include a remote control race car challenge, a Family Feud style game show challenge, axe throwing — which has been expanded to three days — and inflatables for younger kids.

The Little Hands on the Farm, an interactive exhibit for the younger kids, returns this year. As always, there will be face painting and caricatures mainly for the youngest generation — and perhaps for the young at heart.

“We’ll have a little bit for all age groups,” Staudt said. “We’ll have Marc Frana, a one man polka-style band, playing throughout the fair.”

Staudt said the main idea is to fill the fairgrounds with people wanting entertainment, and while they are there, they can see and better appreciate the value of agriculture in Floyd County.

“We’re trying to get a wide array of entertainment to get people to stop out and see what the fair has to offer,” Staudt said. “While they are there, they can see what the fair is all about.”

Staudt said she was especially excited about some new entertainment that hasn’t visited the fairground before — the Sea Lions Splash show

“It’s educational as well, and they put on a show three times each day,” she said. ‘We’re really looking forward to that.”

Other featured entertainment includes the Electrify Magic Show. The performing magician recently reached the semifinals on the show “America’s Got Talent.”

The new and rebuilt structures could also be considered an attraction. The picnic shelter has been erected that sits on the site where the old brick building was, a Little Hands on the Farm building now sits where the old storage shed was. That building also includes two new restrooms with showers.

To replace the dairy building that was destroyed by the tornado, an addition was built to the cattle/swine building. There is also a new sidewalk system, to make it much easier to get from place to place.

“You can use your strollers or wheelchairs or walkers,” Staudt said. “Our goal was to connect everything we could through our sidewalk, to make everything a little bit easier for people to navigate the fairgrounds.”

Fair food is also another attraction. The 4-H food stand is back in business this year, with air conditioning for folks to cool off for a while. There will also be eight different food trucks, selling everything from sweet treats to hearty meals.

The final building is the 104-by-60-foot Swartzrock Community Center. Construction was delayed due to supply chain issues, but the building is now complete and in use. It’s located where the former 4-H food stand was, taking additional space out into the courtyard.

“We can’t make this happen without all the grants and the funding by our donors,” Staudt said. “We can’t thank our businesses and local donors enough.”

Showcasing the work of young people and the importance of agriculture both locally and world-wide is the top priority of the fair, according to Staudt.

“The kids have put all their time and effort into livestock and non-livestock projects,” she said. “People can see what they do, all year long, to prepare for this one big week.”