Manitowoc County Fair runs through Sunday. Here's everything to know about this year's festivities.
MANITOWOC - After last year’s rainy weather, and the pandemic the year before, Jennell Shelton said she's excited to see the turnout for this year’s Manitowoc County Fair.
“Honestly, this is the best year ever,” Shelton said.
Shelton is the facility manager for the Manitowoc County Expo and she accredited the 21-member board that organizes the fair in bringing together an amazing event that she is sure the community will love.
“It really does take a village to make this fair happen,” she said.
Set-up began Tuesday for the five-day fair, and Shelton said many of the tents and booths are already constructed.
“It’s incredible when I drive around here (the Expo grounds), I cannot believe where we were a few years ago,” she said.
The Expo grounds had a different landscape when a portion was sold to Meijer in 2016. That sale resulted in $4.3 million in a special fund to be used exclusively for the Expo property.
Since that sale, the county has made large improvements to the remaining 63 acres of property, including expanding and improving parking and camping spaces, creating an entertainment area, constructing a new horse barn and replacing the cattle barn.
Shelton said improvements have even been made in the past year.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have very good weather for the fair last year, but we took that and ended up making gravel roads in places that we could see should have been roads instead of just grass,” she said.
She hopes those improvements, along with the large-scale entertainment shows and the traditional carnival rides and booths, will impress fairgoers.
The fair begins at 8 a.m. Wednesday with some judging of livestock. Carnival rides open at 1 p.m. each day.
“My personal favorite are the fireworks that create that kickoff for the Manitowoc County Fair,” she said.
Manitowoc Lincoln High School and the Touch of Harmony Quartet will provide entertainment before and during the fireworks show.
Another highlight for this year is the second annual Woman’s Day event.
“It will empower the women to give back to the community by supporting the Peter’s Pantry as well as the foster families program,” Shelton said.
The Woman's Day event takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The first 200 attendees will get a free tote filled with items donated by area businesses and organizations.
All attendees will receive one ticket for the door prizes and they can get an additional ticket if they bring in two nonperishable items to give to Peter’s Pantry.
Other highlights include the sea lion shows, the AG Adventure Land and Lew-E’s Comedy Circus.
Daily tickets are $10 and include unlimited carnival rides and entry to the grandstand events like Wednesday’s fireworks, the truck and tractor pulls, and Sunday’s Demo Derby.
More: Throwback: See the old Manitowoc County Fairgrounds in the 1960s and today
Shelton also expressed her gratitude for the community sponsors and donors to the fair, including Community First Credit Union, Action Realty, Meijer and more.
“We have wonderful, wonderful sponsors that have raised over $90,000 this year in sponsorship money,” she said. “We are very fortunate and very blessed that people are so supportive of us here.”
For more about Manitowoc County Fair, visit www.manitowoccountywi.gov. The Expo grounds are at 4921 Expo Drive, Manitowoc.
The full fair schedule follows.
Manitowoc County Fair 2022 schedule
Wednesday
8 a.m. — General admission gates open
8 a.m. — Swine judging — market & showmanship, Multi-purpose Building
9 a.m.-10 p.m. — Exhibition Building and Youth Art Exhibit open
10 a.m.-10 p.m. — Merchants Building open
11:30 a.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
11:30 a.m. — Junior Fair sheep, sheep showmanship, breed, market, wool/fleece, Multi-purpose Building
11:30 a.m. — Open Class sheep — sheep wool show, Multi-purpose Building
11:30 a.m. — Market Goats, Multi-purpose Building
Noon-6 p.m. — AG Adventureland tent open
1-5 p.m. — Carnival rides open
1:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
2 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
2 p.m. — Junior Fair horses and ponies judging, Horse Arena
3 p.m.-7 p.m. — Clipper City Railroad open
3:30 p.m. — Junior Fair beef cattle — beef showmanship judging, Multi-purpose Building
3:30 p.m. — Open Class beef cattle judging, Multi-purpose Building
5 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
5:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
6 p.m. — Special Olympics Running A Fair-5K Run/2-mile Walk
6-10 p.m. — Carnival rides open
6:30 p.m. — Blue Ribbon Brew Competition Awards
7-11 p.m. — Fire on High Unplugged band, Rock Pavilion
7-11 p.m. — Cherry Pie band, Variety Pavilion
9 p.m. — Parade and fireworks, Grandstand
Thursday
8 a.m. — General admission gates open
9 a.m. — Open Class dairy cattle judging, Ice Center Show Ring
9 a.m. — Junior Fair dairy cattle showmanship judging, Ice Center Show Ring
9 a.m. — Junior Fair and Open Class rabbit judging, Junior Fair rabbit showmanship, Poultry & Rabbit Building
9 a.m.-10 p.m. — Exhibition Building and Youth Art Exhibit open
10 a.m.-10 p.m. — Merchants Building open
11:30 a.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
Noon — Sea Lion Show
Noon-3 p.m. — Norm’s Polka Band, Variety Pavilion
Noon-6 p.m. — AG Adventureland Tent open
1-5 p.m. — Carnival rides open
1:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
1:30 p.m. — Horse pulls, Horse Arena
2 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
2:30 p.m. — Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Contest, Rock Pavilion
3-7 p.m. — Clipper City Railroad open
5 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
5:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
6-10 p.m. — Carnival rides open
7 p.m. — Market animal sale, Multi-purpose building
7-11 p.m. — The Cougars band, Rock Pavilion
7-11 p.m. — Spicy Tie Band, Variety Pavilion
Friday
8 a.m. — General admission gates open
9 a.m. — Junior Fair cattle judging, Ice Center Show Ring
9 a.m. — Junior Fair poultry & showmanship judging, Poultry & Rabbit Building
9 a.m. — Open Class Poultry judging, Poultry & Rabbit Building
9 a.m.-10 p.m. — Exhibition Building and Youth Art Exhibit open
10 a.m.-10 p.m. — Merchants Building open
11:30 a.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
Noon — Sea Lion Show
Noon-3 p.m. — Norm’s Polka Band, Variety Pavilion
Noon-6 p.m. — AG Adventureland Tent open
1-5 p.m. — Carnival rides open
1:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
2 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
3 p.m. — Junior Fair llamas & alpacas judging, Multi-purpose Building
3-7 p.m. — Clipper City Railroad open
5 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
5 p.m. — Junior Fair cats, cavies & bird judging, Ice Center Show Ring
5 p.m. — Rabbit Hopping judging, Ice Center Show Ring
5:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
6-11 p.m. — Carnival rides open
7 p.m. — Tractor pull, Grandstand
7:30-11:30 p.m. — The Toys band, Rock Pavilion
7:30-11:30 p.m. — The Glam Band, Variety Pavilion
Saturday
8 a.m. — General admission gates open
9 a.m. — Open Class Horses, Horse Arena
9 a.m. — Junior Fair & Open Class dairy goat judging, Multi-purpose Building
9 a.m.-noon — Woman’s Day event, Ice Center
9 a.m.-10 p.m. — Exhibition Building and Youth Art Exhibit open
10 a.m.-10 p.m. — Merchants Building open
11:30 a.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
Noon — Sea Lion Show
Noon-3 p.m. — Norm’s Polka Band, Variety Pavilion
Noon-6 p.m. — AG Adventureland Tent open
1 p.m. — Kids Teeny Weeny Donut Contest, Lew-E’s Comedy stage
1-5 p.m. — Carnival rides open
1:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
2 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
2:30-6:30 p.m. — Classic Friends, Variety Pavilion
4 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
5 p.m. — Fairest of the Fair Competition, Ice Center Show Ring
5 p.m. — Modified truck & tractor pull, Grandstand
5:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
6 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
6-11 p.m. — Carnival rides open
7 p.m. — Manitowoc Culvers Futurity, Ice Center Show Ring
7:30-11:30 p.m. — Nashville Pipeline band, Rock Pavilion
7:30-11:30 p.m. — Johnny Wad, Variety Pavilion
Sunday
8 a.m. — General admission gates open
9 a.m. — Wels Lutheran Congregations of Manitowoc, Ice Center
10 a.m.-6 p.m. — Merchants Building open
10 a.m.-6 p.m. — Exhibition Building and Youth Art Exhibit open
11 a.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
11 a.m. — Announcement of Herd Builder Award and Outstanding Dairy Cattle Youth Exhibitor Award winners and Dairy Herdsmanship results, Ice Center Show Ring
11 a.m.-4 p.m. — AG Adventureland Tent open
11 a.m.-4 p.m. — Clipper City Railroad open
11 a.m.-6 p.m. — Carnival rides open
11:30 a.m. — Farm Bureau Jr. Kiddie Showmanship, Ice Center Show Ring
Noon — Open Class Fun Show, Horse Arena
Noon — Sea Lion Show
1 p.m. — Kids Teeny Weeny Donut Contest, Lew-E’s Comedy Stage
1:30 p.m. — King Arthur Baking Contest, Exhibition Building
1 p.m. — Demo Derby, Grandstand
1-5 p.m. — Boomboxx, Rock Pavilion
1-5 p.m. — Conscious Pilot, Variety Pavilion
1:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
2 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
3:30 p.m. — Lew-E’s Comedy Circus
4 p.m. — Sea Lion Show
Contact Alisa Schafer at aschafer@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlisaMSchafer.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc County Fair 2022 opens. Here's the full schedule of events.
