Food trucks, animals, projects, tents, rides and thousands of people will soon fill the fairgrounds.
The Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair kicks off this weekend, and organizers have spent months preparing, managing hundreds of 4-H projects, finding judges for all the contests, tracking down food vendors, asking for volunteers, preparing the grounds and managing all the livestock.
The goal is to make sure the fairgrounds are ready for the thousands of visitors expected to come over the next eight days.
Tents have been going up over the last week. And more than 170 trash cans will be placed around the grounds. Volunteers, groundskeepers and board members will keep the fairgrounds clean and the trash cans from overflowing, said board member Paul Gentry. The Indian Creek High School football team will clean up and empty trash cans into dumpsters each morning.
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The operation of the fair is primarily volunteer-based. Volunteers run ticket sales, parking, pick up trash, manage events, contests and more. Most volunteers come from 4-H families or groups of people that have volunteered for several years, Johnson County Fair Board President Matt Davis said.
“If we need someone, we just use word of mouth,” Davis said.
The main event of the fair is the 4-H projects, which arrived this week for judging. With 72 categories of projects to judge this year, the board had to find 80 judges.
Johnson County 4-H educators compiled a list of possible judges around the state, fair board member Heather Dougherty said.
“We look at 4-H leaders, volunteers and previous 4-H’ers,” she said. “Anyone who’s been involved with 4-H and knows what they’re doing.”
That process starts in February by sending a letter to potential judges picked from the list. If the people reply, they are set up to be judge for the year. Judges are later sent payment information, what project they are judging, where to go and everything they need to know before arriving at the fair, Dougherty said.
Along with the 4-H projects, about 950 animals will arrive at the fair this weekend. Building superintendents are preparing to work out the traffic flow to check in each type of animal, Davis said.
Another staple of the fair is the food.
With 44 vendors set to appear at the fair and several on a waiting list, fair goers can expect a wide variety of fried fair food, board member Brian Young said.
Two new food vendors were added this year, including a barbecue stand. The rest are returning vendors from previous years. The list nearly fills up a year in advance because most vendors wish to return the next year.
“Most generally, all the people from the year before want to come back because our fair is so great,” Young said.
Several people were put on a waiting list this year, Young said.
“You can only have so many lemon shake-ups, corn dogs and beaver tails,” he said. “If it’s something off the wall, we try to get it.”
And of course, fair goers will be looking forward to the rides.
A total of 28 carnival rides will run on the midway next week, making it the largest midway in southern Indiana this year, Davis said. All rides are prepared and managed by Poor Jack Amusements each year.
“They usually try to bring everything they’ve got,” Davis said.
To keep the thousands of fair goers and animals cool in the heat next week, fans have been set up around the grounds and in the buildings. Animals will have their own fans in the barns, buildings have large overhead fans and mist fans and other large fans have been set up around the fairgrounds, Davis said.
Scott Hall, which will be filled with 4-H projects, is the only building with air conditioning, Davis said. Guests can take some time to cool off in there as well.
The amount of fans around the grounds is the same amount the board has used in past years, which Davis said seemed to work well.
“We do the best we can with what we’ve got,” Davis said.
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The parade will go back to its original route this year though Jefferson Street in downtown Franklin.
When: 4 p.m. Saturday.
Where: The route starts at Franklin Community Middle School, 625 Grizzly Cub Drive, and will head east on Banta Street to then head south on Walnut Street. The route continues east on Jefferson Street.
The parade will then head south on Home Avenue and end on South Street, just south of the Johnson County Courthouse.
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