There will be some new events and changes to the Platte County Fair this summer, but one thing for certain is it will be held July 24-27 in Tracy.
The recent flood made some people wonder what would happen to with the longest running county fair west of the Mississippi, but board member Brandon Edlin has no doubts this year’s event will go on.
This year marks the 156th year the fair will be held.
“We have some amazing volunteer board members and stockholders, so it will go on as planned,” he said.
Videos of the water at the fairgrounds, included people kayaking in the floodwater in the grandstand where the demolition derby and other events are held. Even with the high waters, no major damage was done to the area.
Edlin noted water got into the krautburger stands, but stuff was moved out before it was damaged.
“After the water went down, the track was done dry,” Edlin said. “We were talking about how dry it was. At that point we had 51 days until the fair. The only thing that worried us is the Missouri (River) is still full. If we get a bunch of rain the chances are pretty good it will flood again, but a week before the fair, if it came and went, we would be fine.”
There will be some changes this year for the fair, which includes the return of the tractor pull and a rodeo — which will be a featured event on Wednesday. The tractor pull will be on Thursday and Friday will be the demolition derby. The mud run will round out the events at the grandstand on Saturday.
Edlin noted a Facebook poll showed interest in bringing the tractor pull back. Last year, there were two days of demolition derby and two days of mud runs. Other changes this year include WiFi at the fairgrounds and online ticket sales from the website for the fair’s Facebook page.
There will be a mechanical bull at the Platte Purchase Building on Wednesday night.
The cornhole tournament expands to two days this year, while the rooster crowing contest was a ‘one-and-done’ event last year based on this year’s lineup that can be found at www.plattecountyfair.com.