Montgomery County Fair — Attraction in Gaithersburg

Sugarloaf Festival didn't have parking close to the Exhibitor Tents. I bought 2 Tickets for 3 days only went 2 hours. There wasn't a Tractor ride to take you place to place. Really not a good time for an elderly, disabled or handicapped to attend. The Vendors merchandise was overpriced very expensive didn't buy anything ex. A Casual Sweater was $90+. Earrings and Jewelry were handmade range from $19.99 on average $50 and up. Majority of Exhibitors were unfriendly at the lower tents near the parking either looked skeptical refusing to speak or service or standing afar unapproachable. Only 2 vendor's were somewhat proud of their work a Family Owned Business with Jarreton Leather Works very friendly, accommodating making Saddle Chairs showing the process, very informative showing the functionality, how things are made by hand. Goods such as a Stool, Suspenders, Wall Art of the Zodiac etc. Another Vendor from K'Owino Batik Art very friendly artistic, talented, very friendly, with the Patience of Job, Africa that Sold hand painted pieces of Africa Artwork of wildlife, people dancing, tribes of his country also playing the drum serenading Me. He was very Welcoming. Even with 3 Women questioning every piece of his artwork and pricing on the special cloth material not sure..... These 3 ladies bought even one piece with volley of questions in an interrogating manner with questions as to why this art couldn't be different ex. "Do you have this art piece with more people dancing? Why did you use this design or this coloring? How much is this stack of pieces of artwork uncertain of buying?" All of Them encircled his area grabbing piles of his artwork with asking questions about where he was from? Do you make the artwork yourself? How did you learn? Are you from here? How long have you lived in the US?" He had a card that he kindly pointed to that answered all those repeated questions of passerby, showing his homeland and African descent also how long family business of artwork. MacClay Leather Works really stylish and traditional style, genuine leather products very friendly and professional exhibitor. I was videotaped and photographed without my permission by the Wizard of Clay with the Cowboy Hat from New York....From The beginning of Me stepping out of My Car explaining difficult to find parking because long distance parking in the Exhibitior Section in which He suggested for Me to Park anywhere on side lots except for near his vehicle which was a parking space videotaping Me. He continued From The moment I Parked to Walking towards His Exhibit to staying in the Tent looking at the other vendors. The area was a Ghost Town. After, my experience decided not to bring family or friends to join Me and use my 2nd Ticket didn't return only stayed 2 hours Max. The area smelled strong of animal manure because in stables so was unable to wear my Faux Fur Coat in Freezing Weather to absorb the odor. (no animals there at the time, but must Have been recent) only able to view 2 to 4 Tents Max. So My Nostrils, Hair, Clothing and Shoes smelled of the Barn Animal Scent. I usually like going to the Fair in the Summer which able to tolerate or ignore the scent in order to spend time with the animals in Warm to...

I love the fair. I've been going since the late 80s. This was my first time taking my kids. We went on the penultimate day of the fair, Friday night. We prepaid for admission, and all you can ride passes. We also bought tickets for the Demolition Derby, which is the main reason we went.

We got there just before 4 pm. We came north on Perry Parkway off of Clopper Road. Took us a while to get into the parking area. We had 2 little kids, and I was not interested in taking the shuttle. So it was worth it. The biggest issue was people who were afraid to drive on the grass and wouldn't listen to the Boyscouts telling them where to park.

Getting into the fair was easy, and so was picking up all you can ride wrist bands. And then we beelined to the Faris Wheel. My kids first ride. They loved it. We also got to ride with one of the fair photographers who is also the DC101 photographer.

The kids loved the rides. The problem was they are 3 and 6, and on the short side. So the rides they could go on were limited. Luckily, they were all mostly in the same area. At 4 pm the lines weren't too bad. We got on about a dozen rides before we decided on dinner.

I love fair food. Deep fried oreos. Funnel cakes. Cotton candy. Gyros. Steak and cheese chips. Popcorn. Candied apples. Fresh squeezed lemonade. The best part of the MOCO agriculture fair is the strip outside the stadium with all the local food spots. Also the churro ice cream sandwich. Eating at the fair is not a cheap

After food it was time to check out the animals. I wish we had come earlier in the day because my daughter would have spent all day looking at the animals. But we had to get to the demo derby, so we cut it short with a pony ride. 6 bucks to see my daughter wear the biggest smile was well worth it.

The demo derby was awesome, as always. Could have done without the guy on the mic professing his love for god and pushing his religion on people but whatever. 3 classes of cars ran in 3 separate rounds. With lots of awesome crashes. The derby ended with a trailer race consisting of a bunch of vehicles pulling trailers. Last person with a trailer still attached won. Seeing an RV just explode into a million pieces was well worth it.

Leaving the derby at 9 the place was a mad house. Way too many people and things not spaced far enough apart. The fair grounds are huge, they should spread the midway and rides out more.

My kids wanted one last ride but the lines were ridiculous. They needed up running through the fun house a bunch of times which was enough for them.

On the way out I had to play one game but they are real expensive now. $6 for 3 darts to pop a Ballon. And $10 for a bucket of ping-pong balls which will never go in to the little fish bowls. Which used to be much closer together.

All in all a great night. Next time we will get there at noon, not...

Normally the Montgomery County fair is excellent. I've been going every year since I was a kid, and every year as an adult I've accompanied my parents on the annual Senior's Day. Most years are excellent, this year was very disorganized and full of rude people, especially at the entrance.

We came for Senior's Day and the shuttle dropped us off just before opening at 10AM. When we arrived there was nobody at the front to direct people arriving. The ticketing booth was not open, but we saw the senior tram loading up visitors, so we walked in. After a few minutes I went back out to the ticketing booth (which still showed no signs of opening) because I wasn't a senior and wanted to pay for a ticket. A couple minutes later a security guard showed up to scan tickets and yelled at all the seniors who had come in +some of whom visibly struggled with their mobility) to walk all the way back to the front and wait in line even though they'd been told they didn't have to. She snapped at me when I mentioned that if an event starts at ten, there should be people available before that, especially if the shuttle is going to drop people off with nowhere to go.

Finally at 10:15 a ticket person arrived. There was then even more confusion because they didn't know how to process the free tickets for seniors. All the seniors then had to wait even longer while it was figured out.

Once we got into the fair everyone was courteous and we had a great time. On the way out we were crossing the street to get to the exit and another volunteer yelled at my dad to "get out of the circle", without telling us how else we could get to the exit.

I understand that volunteering at a big event is very stressful, but as the first and last people visitors see, it should be a priority for the ticketing and security volunteers to be more respectful and better...