Southern Minnesota
are not to miss
By TOM NELSON Guest Contributor
A
n iconic part of any summer in Southern Minnesota, the 2022 county fair schedule will offer area residents a wide range of affordable fun-filled attractions and events. Listed below is information on the various county fairs in the Southern Minnesota Scene’s readership area that will take place during the months of July and August in 2022.
Goodhue County Fair
The 2022 Goodhue County Fair is set for Aug. 9-13 and the fairgrounds are located in Zumbrota. This year’s fair promises to provide a wide range of entertainment highlighted by daily grandstand events. A kids’ lawn mower derby and power pull is a free grandstand event on Tuesday evening. The week continues in the grandstand with a demolition derby on Wednesday, tractor pull on Thursday and Autocross racing on Friday along with another demolition derby on Saturday. All of these are ticketed events for the grandstand. “The Autocross has become our new premiere event,” said Bob Gonsior, Goodhue County Fair Board president. “It’s a little bit of auto racing with a bit of demolition derby. They go in a circle and within that circle there are jump…and it’s OK to run into another car! It’s a fun night and people really get into it.” Gonsior said there were over 240 cars entered in the event last year and the Autocross attracts crowds of 7,000-8,000 spectators. The fair offers free music entertainment in the beer garden each day and the All-American Lumberjacks show runs twice each day during the fair. The show includes everything lumberjack related from wood carving to crosscut saws to log rolling. The antique tractor and farm implements will be back on display this year and the fairground’s old schoolhouse will provide daily shows touching on the history of the county. A carnival will provide fairgoers with a chance to experience the thrills of the midway, while the 4H barns will have livestock judging each day. “It’s a fun small, town fair and there is always something going on at the fair,” Gonsior said. “What draws people to our fair is that it is truly a down home style fair…it’s the food vendors, the carnival and the 4H.
6
J U N E 2 0 2 2 | W W W. S O U T H E R N M I N N SCENE. C O M
“Our fair the the 4H go hand-in-hand. It is really the grass roots of our fair. The 4H clubs really play an important role in our fair.” For more information on the Goodhue County Fair, visit: goodhuecountyfair.com.
Le Sueur County Free Fair Located on the fairgrounds in Le Center, the 2022 Le Sueur County Free Fair will take place on Aug. 18-21. Admission is free to the fair with parking at $5 per day or you can purchase a week parking pass for $15. Grandstand events at the fair will include a demolition derby on Friday night along with a truck and tractor pull on Saturday night and the Ranch Rodeo on Sunday afternoon. The fair schedule will also include music performances by Blue Ringers on Friday and Smokescreen on Saturday along with the always popular carnival. The pig races are also back this year and the fair will also feature a petting zoo and pony rides. New to the fair this year will be an axe throwing booth and archery, provided by the Nye Nature Center, a hypnotist/magician stage show and a Civil War battle re-enactment. “There are a lot of fun things this year and I am super excited about it,” said Jessie Filter, a member of the Le Sueur County Free Fair board. “We have a good feeling for this year. Our food Attendees enjoy a ride at the 2021 Waseca County Free Fair. (File photo/southernminn.com) trucks are getting their applications in and we have the carnival coming…I think it is going to be a great year.” For more information on the Le Sueur County Free Fair, visit: lesueurcountyfair.org.
Nicollet County Fair Set for Aug. 10-14, the Nicollet County Fair offers free admission with a $5 parking charge at the fairgrounds located in St. Peter.
YOUR GUIDE FOR PLACES TO GO AND THINGS TO DO.
