Paul Cunningham, 9, poses with his second-place winning “Andrew Rabbit,” named after a Cincinnati Reds player.
Photo by Kirsten Elam
Highland County Fair Board President Mark Baldwin said this year’s county fair was a success with 15,453 general admission tickets sold and 1,261 season passes sold. The 2024 Highland County Fair was held the entire first week of September.
“We had excellent weather, and the events were great,” said Baldwin. “I couldn’t ask for better weather, and public participation was wonderful.”
Unfortunately, the tractor pull scheduled for the Friday night of the fair was canceled because of rain.
“All the other nights went out without a hitch, and Thursday night was an OSTPA [Ohio State Tractor Pull Association] night,” said Baldwin. “It was an excellent night, and the Ohio State Tractor Pull Association was there, and the last Saturday night of the derby had an excellent crowd and was an excellent show.
Baldwin said about 80 cars participated in the derby. “It was an excellent night for the community,” he said. “We had lots of participants and lots of people watching too.”
He said there are no new plans for next year’s fair so far.
“Everybody is in the planning stages and trying to figure out what things worked and what didn’t work and what things you’d like to change.”
He said the junior fair shows were successful this year.
“We had a lot of money raised at the junior fair shows for the youth, and we’re all just thankful and blessed that they’re supporting the community like that.”
He said the money raised goes directly to the exhibitors.
“That money goes to that exhibitor for how they raised their animal and the project they did,” said Baldwin. “Those kids get that money, and a lot of them have had them for over a year of a project that they’ve watered and fed and worked with that animal, so that’s to reward them for their hard work.”
He said the attendance was slightly lower than the average of 20,000 who attended the fair during pre-pandemic years. He said this may be attributed to some families going on vacation during the week that students are out of school.
“We’re just blessed and thankful for people coming out and supporting the community and the agriculture and the youth,” said Baldwin. “We strive to have something for everyone, and that’s what our goal is.”
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
