CROTON — The Hartford Fair on Fairgrounds Road near Croton is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a long list of events at the grandstand and throughout the fair.
The fair opens Saturday, Aug. 2, with free admission. A parade and opening ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m.
Also on Aug. 2, Phil Dirt and the Dozers will give a concert at 8:30 p.m. at the grandstand. A fireworks display will follow.
Country music star Tracy Lawrence will play at the grandstand Sunday, Aug. 3, at 8:30 p.m. Lawrence has had many No. 1 singles since hitting the national spotlight in 1991 at age 23.
Other grandstand activities throughout the week include The Imperials Stunt Drivers on Monday, Aug. 4; a championship truck/tractor pull Tuesday, Aug. 5; a demolition derby Wednesday, Aug. 5; motocross racing Thursday, Aug. 6; a rough truck contest Friday, Aug. 6; and, closing out the fair on Saturday, Aug. 7, a championship horse pull.
The Pavilion has musical groups each evening, featuring local musicians. There will also be middle-of-the-afternoon demonstrations on a variety of topics. The Gazebo has other musical groups, also in the evening, and the Licking County 4-H Band will give a series of concerts at several locations on the fairgrounds.
A feature of this year’s fair will be the Firefighter Training Show, performed daily at 11 a.m., and 2 and 6 p.m. during the week. This involves randomly picked audience members becoming firefighters. It is listed as educational as well as entertaining, for children and adults.
The Hartford Fair Car Show will be Sunday, Aug, 3, with registration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and an entry fee. There are dash plaques for the first 100 cars with vehicle category awards.
Bring your Buckeye card for Senior Citizens Day on Aug. 4, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. And fairgoers can enter a chocolate cake contest, a Licking County lamb cook-off, a youth brownie contest and a pork cooking rally to show off your favorite recipes.
The four-acre Natural Resources area is a major feature of the Hartford Fairgrounds, and includes a lake. There is a full, daily schedule of programs, with themes for each day of the fair. One program is a triathlon of log rolling, canoe jousting and tug of war by the Hartford FFA.
The fair board has made a series of improvements to the facilities over the past year, including new restroom upgrades to several buildings. A new parking area on the north side of the grounds is now available to fairgoers.
The full slate of fair events are online at www.hartfordfair.com.