County fair prepares to get underway

The Wahkiakum County Fair is back, and this year’s theme is “Hats off to the Fair!”

The annual event is scheduled for next Thursday through Saturday, August 19, 20, and 21.

“It’s coming quick,” Fair Manager Patty Dursteler said on Tuesday. “We are excited to show off our new additions to the fair.”

The improvements including some new roll up doors for the Grange and Lions Club booths, and a brand new ramp and walkway to the T Building.

After last year’s virtual fair, Dursteler is happy to return to the usual festivities.

“We’ll have animals,” she said. “I don’t know what our entries will be like next week, but I think we’re going to get a lot because I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people asking how to enter.”

Volunteers will begin taking entries for everything but baking, gardening, floral, and livestock on Monday from 3-8 p.m. Baking, gardening, and floral will be entered on Tuesday. Contact the fair office for information about entering livestock.

For more information, fair books are available at the fairgrounds in Skamokawa, at the Eagle office in Cathlamet, and at many local businesses.

There will be live music every night. On Thursday, there will be a 60’s surf band called Beach Break. On Friday night, Fat Bottomed Girls will be back with their brand of arena rock, and on Saturday, the Texas Tribute will be playing ZZ Top hits.

“They do the whole ZZ Top thing," Dursteler said.

Another band, Walking West, will perform on Friday, and Dursteler hopes to hear from a couple more bands before the big weekend.

For the kids, the Balloonatic will perform on Friday and Saturday, and Alley Oop and the Reptile Road Show will entertain the kids on Saturday.

As for food and everything else, expect all the “normal normals,” Dursteler said.