With tons of tractors, loads of livestock and a cacophony of crashes anticipated, folks will soon be gathering for the annual Monroe County Fair to enjoy everything that makes it a staple of the summer in these parts.

Monroe County Fair Association President Don Schrader once again spoke about the fair with the Republic-Times, recalling the success of last year’s week-long event and discussing what people can expect next week.

Looking back, he had good things to say about the 2024 fair, with some solid livestock showings and weather that kept the week going smooth.

“Last year was another good fair,” Schrader said. “We didn’t have any complete rainouts. We did have the threat of rain, but not like the previous year. Naturally, that’s always a concern of ours, dealing with Mother Nature.”

Attendance was also good last year, and he voiced his hopes about seeing similar numbers in the week to come.

When it comes to the downtime between fair weeks, Schrader said that the association hasn’t made any tremendous changes to the fairgrounds off Route 156 in Waterloo this time around – though revenue from last year was put to good use with some general maintenance and improvements.

Schrader said the entrance to the fairgrounds leading to the fine arts building had been resurfaced, blacktop had been added to make walking in front of the main grandstands smoother and the kitchen area had been redone with new countertops, flooring and cabinets.

“That’s where a lot of our extra change went,” Schrader said. “All the money that we generate stays and goes into the fairgrounds, for the improvement of the grounds. We continue to take quite a lot of pride in the appearance of the grounds and the buildings. It’s there for anybody to rent if they have any kinds of events that they’d like to have.”

When it comes to the events that folks can look forward to soon, he noted that the most popular fair attractions had gone unchanged, with fairgoers still eager to see the Friday night Demolition Derby, Wednesday night Figure 8 Race, the multiple tractor pulls, and all the livestock showings through the week.

There are some additions, however.

“There’s no big schedule changes,” Schrader said. “Those main events are still what we’ve had in the past. We do have a comedy ventriloquist coming on the Thursday and last Sunday of the fair. That’s something new. We’ve got the Clydesdale horse coming, which was brought back by popular demand.”

That Clydesdale will be appearing the first Sunday evening as well as Thursday evening along with a face painting booth and balloon artist.

Other fair attractions are also returning, with the model train display set up all week and carnival rides already setting up shop in preparation.

Speaking with plenty of optimism, Schrader expressed his hopes for decent weather, though, even anticipating temperatures that are sure to have everyone swimming in sweat, the fairgrounds will no doubt be plenty busy.

“We always put our order in for beautiful weather, but we receive what the good lord wants to give us, and we’ll deal with it one way or the other,” Schrader said.

Fair festivities begin this Sunday, July 20, with the main event of the day being the Monroe County Fair Queen and Little Miss Pageant at 7 p.m.