Hancock County Fair- July 31st-August 3rd

The 2024 Hancock County Fair is Wednesday, July 31st-Saturday, August 3rd at the Hancock County Fairgrounds in Hawesville. This award winning fair offers rides, delicious foods, competitive events, exhibits, pageants, motor sports, livestock & animal shows, and more. Don’t miss this most fun and looked forward to event of the summer!

Rides

All of Casey’s Rides are Free with the $10 Gate Admission each day (Thurs., Fri. & Sat.). Children 2-years-old and younger have Free admission. Rides open on Thursday & Friday at 5:00 p.m., and on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. *On Saturday, August 3rd, Rides will be open from 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. for Special Needs Riders ONLY, organized by Autism Advocates of Hancock County.

Food

Hancock County Future Farmers of America Students will be offering COLD Coca-Cola products again this year! They also help with clean-up each year, and putting produce and crops out on display. They do a great job and their help is greatly appreciated by the HC Fair Board.

The Hornet Band will have hamburgers & hotdogs, and the HCHS Girls’ Softball Team will have potato twisters & pizza rolls. The Lewisport Lions Club will have their ribeye & pork chop sandwiches, Knights of Columbus will have delicious hand-dipped quality ice cream, and the Hawesville Lions Club will have all sorts of deep-fried goodness, including corndogs, French fries, jalapeno poppers, chicken nuggets and cheese sticks!

The Amish will have fried pies & iced coffee, and the award-winning Sunny Daze Food Truck will have Philly cheese steak sandwiches and other tasty offerings. You can cool off with Hello Pop’s Shake-Ups & Ice Pops as well, and there will be a Fruit Cabob Booth again this year.

There will also be meatloaf sandwiches, chicken quesadillas, baked potatoes, pulled pork nachos, Boston butt sandwiches, and mutton sandwiches! And, the Sunshine Circle Homemakers will have their Saturday Morning Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Amish Booth (across from the Lewisport Lions Club booth). The cost is $7 for adults, and $4 for children, and includes: pancakes, sausage, juice, milk and coffee.

Wednesday

There is Free Admission on Wednesday at the Fair. The exhibits entries start at 2:00 p.m., and there is a Raffle for a chance to win money to pay for your admission into the Fair! The Fair Board encourages everyone to bring their produce, canned & baked goods, crops, and all other entries!

Fair Board President Tim Cecil said, “We give a $100 check to the adult 18 and over, and to the child 17 and under. For EACH entry you put in, you get a free raffle ticket and a chance to win $100. There is an adult box and youth box to place your raffle tickets in. We draw names from those boxes during the Fair and call out the winners.”

County Wide Church Service Night on Wednesday begins at 6:15 p.m. Come out and join in prayers for this year’s Fair to be a safe and enjoyable one for all who attend and for all those who volunteer and work very hard to put it on!

Thursday

Thursday at the Fair is a full day of fun, with baked goods entries due at 8 a.m., Laser Tag at 4 p.m., and an OPEN Livestock Show this year at 5:30 p.m., open to Hancock County and ANYONE in surrounding areas. Evan Tate with the HC 4-H Extension Office is the Organizer.

The fun Pony Cart Racing Event is back this year, and begins at 5:00 p.m. The Annual Talent Show starts at 6 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., there will be an ATV/UTV/Side by Side Timed, Obstacle Course Event (practice laps, 5-6 p.m.), a Pony Pull, and Zach Jennings Band will be performing! The Miss Teen & Hancock County Fair Queen Pageants will kickoff at 7:30 p.m., at the Pavilion Stage.

Friday

Friday is another fun-filled day with the Haflingers & Mule Pull at the Horse Arena starting at 4 p.m. Laser Tag is from 4 p.m.-9 p.m. And, performing at 5 p.m. is Cory Axton! At 6:30 p.m., the Tiny Tots and Little Miss & Mister Hancock County Pageants will be starting. Go Kart Racing begins at 7:00 p.m., as well as a performance from Dan Hall.

Saturday

Saturday begins with the Annual Pancake Breakfast at 8 a.m. The Baby Contest and Youth Sports begin at 9 a.m. The 4-H Rabbit Show is at 10 a.m. ATV Drag Racing, Doll Show, Hobo Contest and Bubble Gum Contest all start at 11 a.m. The Cake Walk is at 11:45 a.m., and Homecoming is at 1 p.m. The Pedal Tractor Pull for children and the Pet Show both begin at 2 p.m. The Ice Cream Eating Contest and Demo Derby begin at 4:00 p.m. More Laser Tag starts at 4 p.m., and the Ranch Sorting Event starts at 5 p.m. Hancock County Junior Prince & Princess Pageant begins at 6 p.m. And, the Fun Mule Show starts at 6:30 p.m.

Talent Show

The Talent Show will be held at the Produce Stage on Thursday, August 1st at 6:00 p.m. Categories are: Child Sing/Instrumental, Child Dance/Variety, Teen Sing/Instrumental, Teen Dance/Variety, Adult Sing/Instrumental, and Adult Dance/Variety. Each category will have cash prizes: $30 for 1st Place, $20 for 2nd Place, and $10 for 3rd Place. The $100 Grand Prize is sponsored by Kyle Culbreth with KY Farm Bureau. Contact Leah Marsch with any questions at: [email protected].

Demo Derby

The Demolition Derby presented by A&C Demos is on Saturday, August 3rd with Inspection at 4:00 p.m., and Show Time at 7:00 p.m. The Total Purse is $8,400! Limited Weld, Wire Class, MWFA Street Stock, and Mini Cars Categories will each have 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place Prizes: $1,200 for 1st, $600 for 2nd, and $300 for 3rd. There is a Powerwheels children’s event as well. For more info., please contact Eric Adkins at (270) 316-8171.

Ranch Sorting

The popular 2-Man Ranch Sorting Event will be held on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. There is a $10 Gate Fee. Proceeds benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Categories are: Open $25/Man (50 percent payback), Youth $20/Man (40 percent payback), Draw $25/Man (50 percent payback), and Beginner $25/Man (50 percent payback). Negative coggins are required. Call Amy Lambert for more info. at (270) 993-4087.

A lot of hard work goes into this event; It takes 40-50 head of cattle to make it happen! Don’t miss this family fun event, with money raised for a worthy cause. The barn is packed each year for the Ranch Sorting, and it sometimes lasts until past midnight!

Parking & Shuttles

Fair Board President Tim Cecil and VP Kyle Hoskins said there will be more parking space for this year, as well as another EXIT OUT on Friday & Saturday nights. Traffic can exit the Fair from the “Back Gate” on those 2 nights, out onto 2181, and then take a left from 2181 back onto Hwy 60. *There will be 2 tractors and 2 shuttle wagons available for those who park a distance from the fair to pick you up and take you directly into the fair!

Thank You

The HC Fair Board extends a Huge Thank You to the businesses and individuals who donate, as well as the many volunteers who make the Fair a success each year. Tim said, “It would be hard to put this Fair on without them. A lot of our people donate their time helping us. Businesses and individuals donate money. It’s really appreciated. It couldn’t be done without our area businesses and volunteers.”

Kyle added, “Everybody just comes together and helps put it on. It’s like one big family when it’s all said and done.”

Fair Board Member for 14 years, and Board President for 25 years, Franklin Powers, is happy to continue helping with the Fair, and is an invaluable consultant, as well as leading the Board in Prayer at the start of each meeting, as he always has done in past years. He and his grandson are placing the picnic tables out at the fairgrounds for people with grandchildren, for example, who need a place to sit while the children ride rides, etc. He had requested overseeing that this year as well, and the Board greatly appreciates him!

New Bathrooms for 2025

The new bathrooms have not yet been completed but will be for next year! The Board was waiting on a bid for months, and it came in a couple of weeks ago and was a lot higher than anticipated. They said they didn’t want to be in the middle of construction during this year’s fair but it will be completed for the 2025 HC Fair. The new bathrooms will be housed in a building with a covered porch on the front, and with concrete around it to park strollers, wheel chairs, etc.

The Hancock County Fair is held at the HC Fairgrounds, located at 1430 St. Rt. 1389, in Hawesville. Fair Catalogues are available at HC Farm Supply, Weber Store, Woosley’s Farm & Feed Supply, Independence Banks, First Financial Banks, Bill’s IGA, JJ’s Pizza, Thompson Tire and Papa T’s Auto Parts. The website is: https://www.hancockcountykyfair.com and the FB Page is: Hancock County KY Fairground.

By Jennifer Wimmer