Marquette County Fairgrounds

Every year on the 2^nd week of August, the Marquette County Fair takes place at the fairgrounds located south of Marquette, down County Hwy 553. It is our favorite fair to attend every year and I base my vacation on the date of the fair, as we always want to attend this one. Admission is something like $ 5 per adult, $ 2 for kids and kids under 2 free. Unwritten rule: Cute kids can get in for free. The elderly ticket vendor commented on his cuteness and let my 2 year old Stunt Baby get in for nothing.
It is large as far as county fairs go. The first and largest of the barns is dedicated to arts, craft, and photographs, as well as baked goods, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. In the main barn, there are also a number of local businesses ranging from health clinics to car dealers. Deer and small game hunters can look at new hunting gear too. Over the years, we’ve bought scented candles, locally processed maple syrup, and wooden toys from craftsmen. Local politicians promote their re-​election bids here too.
The livestock exhibits consist of red barns arranged in sequential order so you can see them one after another as you move from barn to barn, from draft horses to cattle, pigs, poultry and small animals, and a separate 4H barn off to the side where you can see the kids’ crafts, scrap books and collages entered into the fair. With numerous categories for judging, seems many of them get recognized for their accomplishments, as blue and red ribbons abound.
Jilbert’s Dairy sponsors the dairy barn and even bring their giant fiberglass cow «Jill» to stand at the entrance for people to get their picture with her. Inside, you can buy a limited selection of Jilbert’s ice cream, but I recommend going to the dairy in Marquette afterwards, since it is cheaper and you have a wider choice of flavors.
The barns are fun to visit, since many of the handlers and owners of the animals are there to talk about their particular animal, especially among the horses. While some of the animals can be petted, there’s also plenty that warn about keeping your fingers out of the pens or cages. One of the most amusing things we saw was a horse dressed up in beer 24-​pack cartons for a costume judging contest (see picture). The owner explained how much beer she had to consume to have enough cardboard for the costume.
Besides the carnival rides and games near the entrance, there’s the food. Our favorite has to be Croatian Village Chicken. They have a multi-​rack rotisserie grill set up outside that turns dozens of chickens over charcoal till they’re roasted golden-​brown. The rotisserie itself is a mechanical marvel of angled gear and pulleys making all of these racks turn at once. We get half a chicken and some fresh-​cut fries from Fabe’s at another stand nearby. And they even have buffalo burgers for the adventurous meat lovers. There’s some picnic tables and tents set up for people to eat. It is best to eat there and stay away from the barns so you don’t inhale the «dairy-​air» of the animals downwind. Grab a bag of salty-​sweet kettle corn while you’re there too.
There’s an outdoor theatre that puts on shows for kids at regular intervals, usually a small animal show and a birds of prey show with hawks, falcons and owls.
And on the way out, why not pull over by County Road 553 for a while and go look for some wild blueberries near the sandy exit roads leading out of the fairgrounds…