100 years of county fair to be celebrated

This year, the Jackson County 4-H Fair celebrates its 100th year of making memories — and those involved with the fair are looking for some of the memories of past years to share with those in attendance.

Preparations are under way for the 100th-annual fair, the bulk of which will be held Monday, July 14 through Thursday, July 17 at the Northeast Kansas Heritage Complex south of Holton with a wide variety of 4-H and open class exhibits, a carnival, a rodeo, the fair parade, the livestock sale and two concerts.

Jackson County 4-H Program Manager Cara Robinson said Jackson County Fair and Meadowlark Extension District officials are asking people with memories of previous fairs — whether a preserved exhibit, a photo or an anecdote — to share those memories in a special exhibit to be featured at this year’s event.

“We’re just looking for any old 4-H project, whether it’s a sewing project, an arts and crafts project, old photos of people participating in the fair over the years or old parade photos — just anything from the fairs of the past,” Robinson said. “They can just contact us or drop their things off at the Extension office anytime between now and Sunday, July 13.”

Jackson County’s 4-H clubs are the main focus of the annual fair, and this year, the clubs will be featured as the grand marshals of the fair parade, to be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 16. Robinson said that as grand marshals of the parade, the county’s clubs will feature their floats at the front of the parade.

Members of the county’s 4-H clubs and their families will also be the focus of a “centennial pancake feed” to be held from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday, July 17, and Robinson said Jackson County Farm Bureau and local ag producers are teaming up to put on the special event, which is open only to 4-H families.

The first big public event of this year’s fair is the horse show, which will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 28 at the Heritage Complex arena, with show and racing events included “as long as the weather holds out,” Robinson said. After that, the fair’s dog show will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 3, and the fair rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday, July 11 and 12, starting at 7:30 p.m. each evening.

Two regional country musicians will present concerts at this year’s fair, with Brian Knowles performing at 7 p.m. Monday, July 14 and Tyler Swain performing at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 at the Heritage Complex. The fair’s closing event, the premium livestock sale, will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 17.

Great Plains Amusement of Rush Springs, Okla., will bring its carnival rides and games to the fair for a sixth year, it was reported. The carnival will be open after 5 p.m. starting Tuesday, July 15 and running nightly through Saturday, July 19.

4-H members are required to enter their exhibits online at fairentry.com by Friday, June 27. Open class exhibitors — whether they have graduated from the 4-H programs or would just like to enter their food, crafts or animals regardless of club affiliation — may also register online at Jackson-KS.fairentry.com

More details on fair entries will be available in the 2025 fair book, which Robinson said will be available online at the Meadowlark Extension District website next week, with hard copies of the book to be available in early June.

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