The 146th Loudonville Street Fair opens Tuesday: Here's what to expect
LOUDONVILLE − Since 1876, the local street fair has happened on the first full week of October.
The 146th edition of the event starts Tuesday, Oct. 4, and runs through Saturday.
It is among the few authentic street fairs left in Ohio, with West Main Street and side streets blocked off from Spring to Union streets, creating a five-night, four-day midway filled with tents, concessions, rides, games, exhibits and food offerings.
A Loudonville Fair highlight is the traditional big Thursday night act, this year featuring country singer Josh Gracin.
A Michigan native and former Marine, Gracin is best known for his 2004 single “I Want to Live,” but has also reached the country charts with “Nothin’ to Lose,” “Stay with Me (Brass Bed),” and “We Weren’t Crazy.”
He has garnered new attention with his recent single, “Love Like.”
Other free fair acts on the West Main Stage include local group JusTus, 7 p.m. Tuesday, featuring members Jim Kirkpatrick, Sam Stephenson, John Combs, Paul Saldivar and Paul Snyder; Lovedays, Scott and Amy, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; Never Surrender, a Butler/Bellville-based rock group at 7 p.m. Friday; and Cedar Valley Cloggers, Wooster-based Appalachian cloggers at 1 p.m. Saturday; at 2 p.m., the Shining Stars Dance Studio; and at 5 p.m., local classic rock group Tightrope.
Martial arts, exhibits, rides and tractor pulls all at the Loudonville Fair
On Tuesday at the Central Park show tent the Rising Star Martial Arts group will give karate and martial arts demonstrations at 7 p.m.
Fair activities commence at 9 a.m. Tuesday with judging at various departments. Exhibits open, along with rides and games at 3 p.m.
Tractor pulls are popular at the Loudonville Fair, with the following events, all with weigh-in preceding an hour earlier: Garden Tractor Pull, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on the Wally Road pull site; truck pulls Wednesday at 5 p.m.; antique tractor pull, noon Friday; and tractor pulls, 7 p.m. Friday.
Livestock judging include lambs and sheep, Wednesday at 6 p.m.; beef, Thursday at 10 a.m.; hogs, Thursday at 3 p.m.; poultry, Friday at 10 a.m.; and dairy and goats, Friday at noon, all in the Central Park show tent. The Loudonville Livestock Club sale commences at 10 a.m. Saturday, preceded by the fair awards ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. in the show tent.
Exhibits, rides, and concessions all open at noon Wednesday through Saturday, with rides shutting down at 10 p.m.
Another fair highlight, auction of prize-winning pies and cakes, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday on the fair midway at Main and Water streets.
Concerts by the Loudonville junior high and high school bands and choirs start at 3 p.m. Wednesday on the West Main stage.
Displays of antique farm machinery are set up on North Water Street between Main and Butler streets, while fire prevention week posters will be displayed in the Junior Fair tent on South Wood Street.
A rest area for senior citizens is set up in the Golden Center room in the Loudonville Public Library, and the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum will be open to visitors Thursday through Saturday from 2 to 8 p.m.
The fair is a production of the Loudonville Agricultural Society, Inc. (fair board), Sam Adams, president. Fair offices are in the fair building on North Water Street, which also houses many exhibits.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: 2022 Loudonville Street Fair runs Oct. 4-8; Josh Gracin to perform
