Clark County Fair

How was the Clark County Fair? It was fair.
In Southwest Washington, this annual extravaganza is the biggest event of the year … every year … since 1868 (yes, 18). That’s nearly 150 years of hootin’ & hollerin’ with food, fun, and family. It’s billed as the largest single-​venue event in Portland Metro with over 250,000 attendees and, based on the parking mess, I got no reason not to believe that number.
My wife and in-​laws hit the Clark County Fair for the first time in 2015. It was everything you expect a fair to be … the good, the bad, and the fair.
* Admission: Adult $ 11.25; Seniors $ 9.25; Kids 7 – 12 $ 8.25; Under 7 free
* Parking: $ 6
* The 2016 Fair is August 5 – 14
* Clark County Fairgrounds are officially in Ridgefield
* Take the 179^th Street exit off I-​5
* Ride Coupons: $ 1 each, but rides take 3 to 5 tickets
* Get 25 ride tickets for $ 23 or Weekend all-​day pass for $ 30
* There are about 2 dozen rides of varying sizes
* Several Barns have animals for livestock competitions
* The Marketplace pavilions are full of vendor booths
* There are competitions for cooking, photos, clothes, & more
* The Midway has classic carnival games and prizes
* Eating is my main activity. Lot’s and LOTS of fair food
* Classic bands popular before your time perform regularly
* Bull Ridin’ and Mutton Bustin’ are popular
* MotoX, TuffTrucks, and a Demolition Derby are popular
* Most popular: Monster Trucks. Bring earplugs
The Clark County Fair is fair. 3.5 stars rounded up for being a historic part of life in Southwest Washington.

This is one of the nicest fairs I’ve been to! Great food, great entertainment, great exhibits and lots of family fun! Love going to it!

Had a good time at the Fair. Parking was a nightmare. No real direction, just kids waving, Bathrooms were a mess and a lot of bees in the evening but overall, no problems. everyone was nice and will go again.

There weren’t many places to sit in the shade, so it was a bit treacherous BUT the main food area was covered with plenty of places to sit. I’m just saying that You can’t have a Unilocaler surrounded by that much food. lol anyways from what I could tell, the animals that were on display there were rescued and there were collection areas there to raise money for the animals (I hope it really goes to the welfare of the poor things). In attendance with me was my Fiancé and his mother. I went to pay for the iced coffee we had all gotten with a $ 20.00 and his mother put a 20.00 down as well and the sheisty woman put the 20.00 in her tip cup and made change from my Fiancé’s money. I shot her the «lol nice try» face and took the 20.00 out of the tip cup and we left. My advice: go, enjoy yourself but watch your money. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I saw things like that happen. OH and keep your eyes peeled for the chocolate dipped bananas, they’re hilarious.

I love the county fair. I don’t know why people give it such a bad time! The food is fair food, not gourmet. There are an absurd amount of food options these days. Everything is fried. Everyone has a corn dog, ice cream, elephant ear, etc. Basically pick your poison and it’s going to be worth your while.
The animals are animals. This year there was a sea lion exhibit. That was kind of cool.
I liked the pirate show at the bus entrance.
Vendors were limited this year, but there is always a nice selection of things to buy!
Overall, I think it’s a pretty fun way to spend a summer day!

Don’t be scamed by Mexican food place near ice cream place by dairy women. They are making BBQ turkey legs. They looked really good and we asked for two to go. They wrapped them in foil and off we walked back to our car. When we got home we discovered that they sold us two that they could not sell. One was really burned and the other was a size of a chicken leg for $ 23.00. I should have looked at them but they were wrapped in foil. My loss, but don’t you be fooled. We felt really badly because we talked to the cook before purchasing the turkey legs and he was so proud of them and his preparation. It was the folks in the back that wrapped them in foil so we could bring them home. Buyer beware…

My buddy was manning the Democratic Booth on the 1^st Sunday Night of the 2012 Clark County Fair.
Although I don’t agree with his politics, I admire his enthusiasm and figured I would say Hello. This being after returning home from a 9 hour car trip with puking babies and screaming wives.
The fair closed at 10:00 p.m. so I figured as we were arriving at 9:00 p.m., we can’t possibly have to pay to get in.
Was I wrong!
After the guards check our baby bag for contraband, we ask where the Political Booths are located. They inform us and as we continue on, only for them to stop us and ask where our tickets are.
Tickets? It’s 9:00 p.m. and you close in an hour, we really need tickets? Yes, they say, so we walk up to the ticket booth and again, informed we need to buy tickets at $ 10 a pop. There’s 3 of us. Seriously, $ 30 just to walk in for an hour? Highway Robbery!
I explain to the ticket lady that it’s 9:00 p.m. and you’re closing in an hour and you’re really going to charge me just to go say hello to my buddy inside. She says, Yep, the people who run the Fair demand everybody pays regardless of the time.
I should have just walked out right there, but the misses and her brother wanted to see our friend, so we paid.
I still can’t believe I agreed to this. HA HA
But I’m even more troubled, the Fair only cares about $$ and not the fans enjoyment. What did they really think I was going to do in 1 hour to justify full fare?
At least the Parking Attendant had common sense not to charge for Parking, I only wish the organizers of the Fair had the same common sense.

Nothing really compares with a good old fashioned well organized county fair. I have been to many county fairs from the largest in the world (Los Angeles County) to the smallest (Calumet County, WI) and I have to say that as far as county fairs go, this one fits right in the middle perfectly.
Tonight The Wife, The Tax Deduction and I ventured out to the fair to see how my entries in baked goods fared at the. well… fair. After a small fiasco with the parking attendants where we were routed into and out of the fairgrounds without being waved in to park anywhere having to drive around and explain what happened, we made a bee line to the Home Arts to see how I did. After that (3 entries, 3 wins) we went and ate, the small one wanted a hot dog, the Wife and I wanted the Mesquite BBQ situated conveniently next to the Dairy Women’s soft serve ice cream stand. Call it kismet, call it destiny, I call it good eats!
We did everything to entertain the Tax Deduction, he rode ponies, found an inflatable Batman figure on a stick we got for him and we went and saw Rabbits and Cows and Goats and Sheep and more. Since he is only 4 we were limited in the carnival section, which is good because carnival people (in fairs, not the cruise ship) just scare the tar out of me, who grows up saying, «I want to be a carny when I grow up.»? Maybe have to know the right people?
As the evening wound down we toured some exhibits, made some changes to our cable television line up, drank free ice water courtesy of the county water company and I got to make fun of both the Republicans and the Democrats in their little booths spewing lies to the good people of Clark County. A rich and full evening of the highest caliber.