Davidson County Agricultural Fair starts off with a bang

Prizes on display at a fair booth

The 65^th annual Davidson County Agricultural Fair started off with a bang on Monday, Sept. 19 and has been rolling strong ever since. Now through Sept. 24, nightly fireworks will be audible for miles around and the faint smell of funnel cake will accompany all activity taking place in the vicinity of Lexington.

My night at the fair began with – what else? – a trip down Fair Food Row. Populated by the likes of the Silver Valley and Welcome Civitan clubs, the Linwood and Churchland Lions clubs and the West Lexington Booster Club, fair food row offers a tantalizing variety of not-so-good-for-you treats that many people, myself included, look forward to sampling all year long.

Menus are full of the typical hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and chicken sandwiches but there are also some decidedly southern options like pork chop sandwiches, thick-friend bologna sandwiches and meatloaf; all of this in addition to the candy apple, cotton candy, popcorn and polish sausage vendors spread throughout the Midway.

Fair food!

Now, placing and successfully receiving an order amidst the chaos of the fair food vendor area is no easy task. It takes patience. It takes perseverance. It takes brightly colored clothing and a fist full of bills so the overtaxed club volunteer will notice you.

Difficulties navigating the crowd aside, once my highly-anticipated corn dog arrived deep-fried, hot and crispy, all was forgiven. Though not hand-dipped like I wanted, I was fully satisfied and excited to move on to the next phase of the fair visit: the Exhibit Hall.

Award winning corn on display

While the Chris Lane Band performed a set of amalgamated sing-a-longs, my crew and I explored the various vegetables, handicrafts and art projects on display. It took a tremendous amount of self-restraint to avoid purchasing bricks upon bricks of homemade fudge – I settled for a grape sno-cone instead. Then it was on to the Midway.

Band plays for fair crowd

On a Tuesday night, the lines for rides were not as long as they most likely will be on Friday and Saturday nights. A wristband for unlimited rides could be purchased for $10 but our group decided to keep our feet firmly planted. By the time we circled the Midway twice and visited the goats, cows, chickens and rabbits in the livestock halls (I made friends with a particularly sanguine goat), it was time for fireworks.

Short, sweet and to the point, the display was worth the wait. Overall, the Davidson County Agricultural Fair is a decent night out in a town without an abundance of nighttime options. But one visit per year is enough for me.

-Ryan Jones

Highlights for the rest of the week include:

Wednesday: Allison Crowell & The Drones from 7 – 9 p.m.
Thursday: Seniors (ages 60+) admitted free until 4 p.m.; the Davis Tucker Band from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Friday: Diaper Derby at 6 p.m.; the Eddie Clayton Band from 7 – 9 p.m.
Saturday: Unlimited rides for $10 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Karaoke from 1 – 3 p.m.; the horse show at 4 p.m.; Nashville recording artist Outshyne from 7 – 9 p.m.

For more fair photos, please visit us at The Lexingtonian FB page.