Summer season Events 2026 | Logan County Fair: 138 years of enjoyable

“Fairs are timekeepers that mark the progress of communities. They record our advancement. They stimulate the energy, enterprise and intellect of our people. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of our people. They open storehouses of information to all of our citizens. Every fair, great or small, has helped to some onward step. Comparison of ideas is always educational and helpful, strengthening the brain and hand of man.” 

– Premium Fair Book, Logan County Fair, 1914 

Those phrases have been discovered within the first truthful premium ebook for the Logan County Fair, Sterling, Colorado, in 1914, they usually stay as true in the present day as they have been when first written.  

Launching the truthful 

The Logan County Fair has had greater than a century of serving to fairgoers make lasting recollections. The truthful started in 1888, when a gaggle of people organized and integrated an affiliation. This was the primary yr after Logan County and Weld County cut up, so the county was starting to make its personal means. 

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The first truthful, held later that yr, included displays showcasing corn that was 2,000 years outdated, alligators and “other unusual features”.  

After that first truthful, one other truthful wasn’t held once more till 1897. This truthful was held in a tent close to the railroad tracks, making it straightforward for guests to soak up the festivities. Pens have been arrange exterior the tent for swine and sheep, whereas horses have been housed in close by barns.  

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According to the Logan County Fair web site, Homer Rogers was the ticket vendor for the 1897 truthful, and he famous that the sheep exhibit had a few dozen animals, whereas there have been 10 pigs. Admission was between 15 and 25 cents, and round 1,500 individuals attended. Exhibitors got premiums between 50 cents and a greenback. 

In later years, the truthful was held on a vacant lot. In 1911, a racetrack was constructed, adopted by a grandstand the following yr. The Logan County Fair & Amusement Park Association was organized in 1914. The group was enabled to buy and enhance everlasting fairgrounds, due to C.B. Timberlake promoting some inventory. The fairgrounds have been named Propst’s Park, as they have been bought from S.R. Propst. The first premium ebook was 70 pages lengthy.  

By 1916, the Colorado Legislature handed a legislation permitting county commissioners to function agricultural festivals, and the affiliation gave administration of the Logan County Fair over to the county commissioners. The commissioners appointed C.J. Funk as truthful supervisor, a put up he held from 1917 to 1921. J.H. King served as truthful supervisor for the following 5 years, adopted by H.A. Sandhouse. 

Events by the years 

Over the various many years, the truthful has not failed to supply fascinating displays, intriguing points of interest and compelling occasions for fairgoers. For instance, the 1917 truthful featured animal coach Olga Celeste and her skilled leopards, in response to in response to Kay Rich, Museum Curator, Overland Trail Museum, Sterling, Colorado. 

In 1923, an aerial marriage ceremony was tried on the truthful. The couple sought to marry whereas the aircraft was in flight, in response to Rich. However, the aircraft couldn’t match the preacher, pilot, bride and groom into the aircraft, so the marriage was held in entrance of the aircraft on stable floor. 

A quote from the Sterling Advocate from January 3, 1925, learn, “For a county year after year to win first place at a state fair should be abundant proof of the agricultural ascendancy of that county. If that rule is a fair one, then there can be little doubt that Logan County is Colorado’s champion agricultural district. So long as the county stood at the head of the lists for the Colorado State Fair, that second or third place now would seem a humiliating defeat.” 

The 1926 Logan County Fair featured a cowboy’s reunion, which was held yearly. At this occasion, neighborhood displays have been divided into two courses, one for irrigated and one for dryland crops. A historic pageant was placed on by the colleges of the county, depicting the principal occasions of the county’s historical past. The efficiency was extremely academic, and a whole bunch of faculty youngsters participated, with the help of academics, mother and father, native golf equipment and organizations, all below the management of Mrs. Anne Rogers, junior highschool principal. 

In 1927, the parade included the oldest and youngest cowboys within the county. W.S. Hadfield was 88, whereas Roy Travis Johnson was 5. Hadfield was affectionately referred to as “Uncle Billy” and was Logan County’s first everlasting resident, in response to Rich. 

The 1927 truthful additionally had state days for Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, the place many buddies have been in a position to collect. Attendance on the 1927 truthful exceeded all earlier years, netting $4,000 in gross receipts. The livestock displays exceeded many state festivals, with 261 cattle, 153 horses and mules, 535 hogs and 761 poultry being proven. 

Each yr, eight to 10 neighborhood agricultural cubicles represented ladies’s work from the 20 completely different communities in Logan County.  

Prize successful entries have been chosen for the Logan County exhibit on the Colorado State Fair, together with boys’ and ladies’ membership displays (the precursor to the 4-H program). 

Since 1948, the Miss Rodeo Logan County contest has topped a rodeo queen to preside over the truthful.  

The present-day fairgrounds have been inbuilt 1959. That similar yr, native historian and writer Nell Brown Propst wrote and directed one other historic drama, “Where the Buffaloes Roamed.” The manufacturing concerned a whole bunch of individuals and reside animals. 

The late Nineteen Seventies featured a tire altering competitors for ladies, whereas a pet rock contest was held from the Nineteen Eighties into the 2000s. 

The truthful in the present day 

As the years progressed, the truthful developed alongside the residents of Logan County. According to Rich, between 25,000 to 35,000 individuals attend the Logan County Fair every year. 

The truthful nonetheless provides a plethora of household pleasant contests and actions, together with a children’ pedal tractor pull, tail wagging competitors for canine, Catch-a-Calf contest for teenagers, mutton busting and a junior rodeo. 

“You see everything that’s good in the world at the Logan County Fair,” stated Rich. “It’s a family event. Everyone is always looking out for each other, and the kids have so much fun.” 

“You see everything that’s good in the world at the Logan County Fair.” 

– Kay Rich  

The Logan County Fair has additionally introduced in lots of big-name performers through the years to entertain truthful attendees. Some notable names are Minnie Pearl, 1966; Tanya Tucker, 1975; George Strait, 1986; Alabama, 1993; Rascal Flatts, 2002; Luke Bryan, 2010; Travis Tritt, 2021, and plenty of extra.  

The 2026 truthful theme is “Stars, Stripes and Prairie Skies” to have fun Colorado’s 150 years of statehood whereas America celebrates 250 years as a nation.