Fair week

MOSES LAKE — Everything slows down a little bit in Grant County during the third week of August. It could be because it’s the hottest part of the summer, or it could be that a lot of people are out of town on vacation. But it could also be because that’s the week of the Grant County Fair, and that’s where everybody is.

“In 2021 we had 92,000 people through the gates,” said Fairgrounds Manager Jim McKiernan. “In 2022 we had 87,000.”

There will be all the staples of a fair, of course: the carnival, the food, the atmosphere of fun. But this year will see a few changes, said McKiernan, including some strong musical headliners on the Bryan Miller stage.

Wednesday’s lineup includes some of the greatest rock bands of all time, or at least a reasonable facsimile. The Ultimate Classic Rock Tribute includes Eagle Eyes, a tribute to the Eagles; Taken by the Sky, which channels Fleetwood Mac; and Petty Fever, bringing back Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Friday

Thursday’s headliner will be country superstar Michael Ray. Ray, a native of Florida, has had four No. 1 hits – “Think a Little Less,” “Whiskey and Rain,” “Kiss You in the Morning” and “One That Got Away” – and has performed at the Grand Ole Opry more than 65 times, according to the fair’s website.

“Opening for him is a band out of Olympia called The Olson Brothers,” McKiernan said. “They're really good. They have a sound a little bit like Florida-Georgia Line.”

Friday night Ned LeDoux, son of legendary rodeo troubadour Chris LeDoux, will take the stage. LeDoux played drums in his father’s band from the time he was 11, in 1998, until the elder LeDoux passed from cancer in 2005. He began recording in his own right in 2016 and has put out four studio albums. He’s got a connection to the Grant County Fair McKiernan said.

“(Chris LeDoux) historically played here 31 years ago, to the day,” he said. “ It's his dad's band and his dad's road manager and the son is playing.”

Another family tradition is carried on with Saturday’s headliner, mariachi, norteño and ranchera singer-songwriter Lupita Infante. Infante was nominated for a Best Regional Mexican Song Latin Grammy Award in 2020 for “Dejaré” and for the Best Regional Mexican Music Album Grammy Award in 2021 for “La Serenata,” according to her discography. Her grandfather was Pedro Infante Cruz, a well-respected singer and actor during the Golden Age of Mexican film in the 1930s-50s, which McKiernan only learned after she’d already been booked.

“She's amazing. Got an amazing voice,” he said.

This year’s headliners are a little more prestigious than some of the ones the fair has brought in in recent years, McKiernan said.

“We thought we'd change it up this year,” he said. “We dropped some of the grounds entertainment and paid a little bit more money for the headliners. You know, I think people sometimes need entertainment they couldn't get anywhere else in the area.”

There’s a lot more to the fair than just headliners, though. This year’s fair will also feature the high-energy magician Alex Zerbe. For the kids, Reptile Isle will return, and Dino Crew will bring the closest thing kids can have to an actual dinosaur encounter.

“We created an area called Kid Zone,” McKiernan said. “It's in the youth building in the old Eagles booth. It's going to be kids’ games and pedal tractors and just a bunch of stuff for families and kids to do. The parents can hang out at a picnic table and relax a little bit while the kids are messing around with sand tables, water tables, games, all kinds of stuff.”

The heart of the Grant County Fair is and always will be agricultural, McKiernan said. There are more than 600 animal exhibits submitted by FFA, 4-H and grange youth, he said.

“We're probably one of the biggest ag show and livestock sales in the state,” he said. “We're a little bit behind Benton-Franklin and Puyallup, but we're probably third in terms of money. We almost raised a million dollars at the livestock sale for youth exhibitors showing animals last year. Our community does a great job; they come out of the woodwork to bid on animals. And (the youth) are amazing to watch. Their work ethic is amazing. They're articulate, they can communicate with adults. Those are great programs.”

Putting on the fair is a community effort. The fair runs on a small army of barn superintendents, judges and other volunteers. And sometimes the rest of the community rallies to make the fair what it is.

“We had almost 300 people out for our Community Day, the last Saturday in July,” McKiernan said. They’d come out and they’d paint, landscape. I don't think any other fairgrounds in the state gets that many people to come out and pull staples out of barns and clean stalls and stuff like that. Tt's just an amazing community.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com. He lives in Moses Lake with his family.