Southern Iowa Fair 2012 Preview
A scene from the 2011 Soutern Iowa Fair
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The summer heat is on once again, just in time for the Southern Iowa Fair. Heat and the Fair seem to go hand in hand with last year’s Mahaska County fair being under an Excessive Heat Warning.
This year may be near the same with the temperature on Monday’s forecast to be 98 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, and with highs on Tuesday being near the same. The remainder of the week cools off slightly, with a 20 to 30 percent chance of rain.
The fair officially opens Monday, July 16th at 8:00 am, with several animal check-ins and judgings taking place throughout the day.
The Southern Iowa Fair Queen Contest begins at 6:00 pm.
Queen candidates are as follows, in no particular order:
- MaKayla Scanlon
- Megan Adams
- MaKenzie McCarty
- Shaylin Rouw
- Emily Peters
- India Sarver
- Kate Van Gilst
King candidate is as follows:
- Lyman Marshall
There are several attractions coming to the fair this year. A fun one will be ‘Cow Town USA’. The exhibit will be educational in nature where kids can come in and milk a cow. They will also be able to learn how to make butter and ice cream. The shows for ‘Cow Town USA’ will be at 12:00, 3:00 and 6:00 pm respectively.
The concert scene at the Fair this year includes the Little River Band in concert with Molly Hatchet, starting at 7:00 pm in the Grandstand on Friday night. Saturday night has Jason Brown, Sammy Kershaw and Ricochet in concert at the Grandstand starting at 6:00 pm.
Advanced tickets are $18.00 and can be purchased at the Fairgrounds office. The day of the show, tickets are $25.00.
Racing is also a big part of the Fair every year. This year has two nights of IMCA racing action. On Tuesday night, the Hawkeye Dirt Touring Series makes a stop as part of the evenings racing action. Wednesday night has the fair payout (extra money) and usually draws a good crop of cars because of the extra money involved.
The figure 8 races are at the Grandstand on Thursday night. This will be the first time a figure 8 race has been held at the Fair. Figure 8 racing can be suspenseful as speeding cars have to navigate an intersection, where they have to avoid hitting other race cars and hope they aren’t hit themselves. The figure 8 races kick off at 7:00 pm.
Friday and Saturday has the Rockin H Chuckwagon display where people can see demonstrations of cooking food over an open fire, and taste a sample for themselves.
On Saturday, the Iowa State Insect Zoo will be at the Fair from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Of course the rides and midway hold many memories, and this year the carnival opens at 4:00 pm every day. Saturday, they open at 1:00 pm and go until 4:00 pm and you can purchase a wrist band for $15.00 for unlimited rides.
Antique tractors, quilts, chickens, cows, goats, horses, along with 4-H, that is the backbone and tradition of a Southern Iowa Fair.
Come join us for this year’s fair, and check back to Oskaloosa News often as we update winners and, of course, post pictures all week from the Fair.
