By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The 168th edition of the Great Darke County Fair is now underway. The fair officially opened on Friday morning at 8 a.m. with the annual ribbon cutting ceremony.

This week will be filled with animals at both ends of the fairgrounds and at the new home for the dog shows just inside Gate 2 in the Cargill Community and Education Center and Hills Dog Show Arena. Another new addition to the fair for 2024 is the Sensory Friendly Room and adult changing table. The new room is designed for people who become overwhelmed by the noises, lights and activity at the fairgrounds as a place to get away from the stimulation for a while. The fair also received a grant through Darke County Developmental Disabilities to install a permanent adult changing table. The fair used a mobile adult changing table at last year’s fair. The Sensory Friendly Room and adult changing table are located north of the Grandstand and next to the Darke County Sheriff’s office on the fairgrounds. Signs will be posted to lead visitors to the room.

There are several new activities for fair goers at this year’s event. The So Hot Glass Blowers will be holding demonstrations throughout the day during the fair and the Whiz Bang Science Show will be held three times a day. The Whiz Bang Science Show will be located north of the Youth Building.

The horse racing schedule has been moved around to accommodate the concert on Thursday evening. Racing began on Friday night, but there is still plenty of racing to watch and wager on throughout the fair. The listed post time for Saturday’s racing has been changed to accommodate more racing and more horses. Post time is now 5:30 p.m. Racing will continue on Wednesday afternoon at noon and again Wednesday evening at 7:15 p.m.

Plenty of tickets remain for the Bachmann-Turner Overdrive (BTO) concert on Thursday night. The concert begins at 8 p.m.

Additional Grandstand events include a bus demolition derby on Sunday night, and the annual Band Spectacular featuring local high school marching bands on Monday night. The tractor pullers invade on Tuesday with the Darke County Tractor Pullers at 10 a.m. and the National Tractor Pullers Association’s Regional National Pull at 7 p.m. Motorcycle racing returns to the fairgrounds on Friday evening and the ever-popular demolition derby will be back to help close out the fair on the final night of the fair.

Looking for more information on the Great Darke County Fair? Stop by the Daily Advocate booth in Coliseum and pick up a copy of the Darke County Fair Magazine and see some of the highlights of the fair in pictures on a large screen television. We look forward to seeing you there.

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].