Skagit County Fairgrounds — Attraction in Mount Vernon

Been to this thing four or five times since I moved to Skagit Co, it is ok for what it is...small, very commercial, and beyond the livestock and hobby exhibits, barely reflective of the county itself.

Just got back from opening day of this year's fair and I must admit it was a bit more organized.

Access to the fair was easier with the additional gate established near the Senior center. Entertainment was drawn from local talent and was pretty consistent for a weekday.

Looking at some of the pictures posted for this year's fair, finally found some of it this time around.

Food is typical fair food, again not representative of the county's offerings.

Skat Transit has a stop or two near the fairgrounds, now I think it is the new 202.

But in previous years, Skat Transit closed those stops without prior notice. On the alternative routes, if the driver stops at all in the vicinity, it adds several extra blocks to be walked.

If you go by Skat, remember on weekdays they stop running about 9:15-9:30 and on Saturday, Skat stops running about 5:30.

If you can, go the first two days when admission is $5 (apparently this is their first year offering reduced fare for the opening day?) or look for tickets on sale by certain local businesses. The Friday/Saturday tickets, I never felt the price was right for...

I feel blessed! I came here yesterday at the end of the night with my husband to get our booster shots. Everyone was unbelievably kind. The woman who administered my shot (who I unfortunately can’t remember her name) was an absolute angel. I told her how nervous I was, and how I have anxiety around doing anything medical related. She couldn’t have been sweeter and more patient with me. She assured me that everything was going to be ok, and she told me that almost everyone was very nervous and I was not alone. When she gave me the shot, I didn’t even feel it at all! Like not even kidding- I didn’t feel even a pinch. Nothing. My original shot that I got back in March (I got it at a different facility) was painful and I almost passed out afterwards from my anxiety. This woman was so gentle, sweet, and caring. When you have anxiety like I do, medical things can feel like a mountain to climb. I almost backed out of doing it right when we got there. But her kindness and patience is the reason I was able to get through it. Now I feel like I will be so much less nervous the next time I get a shot. Thank you, kind lady. You don’t know the impact you had on me with your genuine kindness. You know...

The fair was pretty good. The food is terribly expensive (e.g. $9 to $11+ for an ice cream cone). The rides are limited in variety and also expensive -- each ride is about $4 or more and The unlimited ride pass is $35 to $40 depending what time you go). I also found that if you have a younger child and an older child that the number of rides both can do together are super limited as about half of the rides won't allow shorter riders and the other half only allow shorter riders, so I found it hard letting my older child ride rides and my younger child also ride them at the same time and they often had to ride rides separately, which meant that one often had to wait for the other.

There are a few things to do there that don't require additional money beyond admission, such as looking at animals, produce and baking contests, electric model trains, watching horse riders and a free circus show that doesn't perform very frequently, but otherwise there are quite a lot of food shops and business booths that also make up about a third of the "things to do."

Overall, I would summarize the fair as limited and...