Dunn County Fair starts Wednesday and runs through Sunday

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  — Fun, food, animals and carnival rides — the Dunn County Fair starts Wednesday, July 26 and runs through Sunday at the Dunn County Rec Park in Menomonie.

Carnival rides from Calkins United Shows LLC begin at 5 p.m Wednesday.

Unlimited ride passes are available for $60 at the ticket booth during the fair, allowing fair visitors to ride at all open times, or for about 40 hours of ride time.

Wednesday is “Sneak-A-Peak” day with a wristband special for $16 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday is “Buck Day,” and from 1 p.m. until closing all rides are $1.

Friday is “Wristband Mania,” with wristbands for $20 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday is “Family Day” with wristbands for $20 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Sunday is “Last Blast” with wristbands for $16 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Free stage

The Wisconsin State Fair Talent Competition Preliminaries begin Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Sign-in and late registration is from 5 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.. Registration forms and more information available on the Dunn County Fair’s website.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the Wisconsin State Fair Talent Competition Finals will begin.

Friday at 2 p.m. and at 4 p.m. Jerry Frasier, comic magician, will appear on the free stage.

Friday at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Chasing Mabel will appear on the free stage. The group has a patented blend of musical hits from the 1990s to today.

Sami Dare will present comedy hypnosis on the free stage Saturday at 2 p.m. and again at 4 p.m.

At 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday on the free stage, Kat Perkins from NBCs “The Voice” will perform. Perkins has been the top selling rock singer on iTunes five times.

Sunday at noon, the Memories Gospel Show will be on the free stage. Warren Petryk and Tim Stevens have been performing for 40 years at a variety of venues.

Sunday at 1 p.m. will be the 4-H awards presentation.

At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the Memories Variety Show will be on the free stage.

Grandstand

Wednesday, July 26, at 7 p.m. the Dunn County Fair farm truck and tractor pull will be held at the grandstand. Tickets are $5.

Thursday night at 7 p.m., Fair Night at the Races with the Red Cedar Speedway will be held. Tickets are $5 or two-night admission passes for $10.

Friday night at 7 p.m., Fair Night at the Races with the Red Cedar Speedway again will be featured in the grandstand. Tickets are $10, children 10 and under are $5. If you purchased the two-night admission pass for $10 Thursday night, then admission is $5.

Saturday at 7 p.m. is the NTPA Regional National Truck and Tractor Pull. Tickets are $10 for adults, and children 10 and under are $5.

Sunday at 3 p.m., the Dunn County Fair demolition derby will be held. Tickets are $5.

Exhibit judging

Animal judging at the Dunn County Fair started Tuesday at 9 a.m. with dogs in the small animal barn and continued with cats at 3 p.m.

At 6 p.m., aerospace, mechanical sciences and computers were judged in the exhibit building.

Judging began Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in the exhibit building with cultural arts, music and drama, photography, woodworking, electricity, and foods.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, exploring, club booths, self-determined, education, school and related projects were judged in the exhibit building.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday was plant and soil science; flowers and house plants; natural sciences, music performance; clothing, knitting and crocheting; home furnishings; child development; demonstrations and presentations; health, political and social sciences.

At 3 p.m. Cloverbuds were judged in the exhibit building, and cavies and open vet science were judged in the small animal barn.

Thursday at 9 a.m., dairy will be judged in the cattle barn, and rabbits will be judged in the small animal barn.

Also at 9 a.m. Thursday, goats and meat goats will be judged in the cover-all building.

At 11 a.m. in the cover-all building, exotic animals will be judged, followed by sheep at 2 p.m.

The horseless horse projects will be judged at 4 p.m. in the horse arena.

Friday at 9 a.m., swine will be judged in the swine barn area, and poultry will be judged in the small animal barn.

Beef judging begins at 1 p.m. Friday in the cattle barn area.

Saturday at 8 a.m., horse showmanship, horsemanship, and pleasure and driving will be held in the horse arena.

At noon on Saturday in the horse arena will be horse trail classes and horse gymkhana/gaming classes.

Little Britches

The Little Britches showmanship exhibition will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. Lineup will start at 10:45 a.m.

Little Britches is open to area youth from four to eight years old who are interested in showing animals.

Calves must be born after March 1, 2017, and goats or lambs must be born after January 1, 2017.

ConAgra Bake-off

Judging of the ConAgra Brands Bake-off Contest will begin at noon on Saturday in the exhibit hall.

Check-in begins at 11 a.m.

All entries must make use of a ConAgra Brands product and must also be accompanied by a recipe.

All recipes become the property of ConAgra Brands.

When the judging is complete, prizes will be awarded immediately.

Two categories will be judged: youth (under 18), and adult (over 18).

No information was available about the prizes that will be awarded.

Auctions

The small animal auction will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday in the small animal barn.

The meat animal auction will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday near the cattle barn.