Northwest Washington Fair and Event Center — Local services in Lynden

Just took my family to the fair yesterday; opening day, 8/13/2018. I am trying not to be overtly negative or facetious, and so I am giving the event 2 stars rather than 1. We were there from 11:00 am and were finally released from our sentence at 3:30 pm.

THE GOOD: Even though most fair food is overpriced, we didn't feel entirely gouged. I always have a "Moo-Wich" (a pint of home made ice cream slammed between a pair of large home made chocolate chip cookies) for which I paid $5 and didn't have to wait in line at all. The kids had ice cream at a reasonable fair price that was very good. The place was stuffed with animals, of course, and the kids enjoyed seeing many of them... especially the playful goats and llamas. I enjoyed seeing the horses most, and we didn't leave with a new kitten this year.

THE BAD: Gone are the days of the petting zoo. I figure that some time ago the lawyers got their mitts on the fair, and now the kids go through a "Children's Animal Experience" which has very little to do with experiencing animals. There is almost no hands-on in the entire fair unless you are fortunate enough to walk by a stall that has an attendant holding an animal for your child to touch. I think in total they were able to interact with a single goat, a lamb, a very amiable rabbit, and horse. Most of the day the kids lamented not being able to interact with anything, like a zoo, but those expectations are not present at a zoo. Further, there was no hint of a schedule for events or any guidance anywhere, so we wandered venue to venue only to find the dogs were not showing, the horses were between shows, and the off-road derby dominated the stable area so it was too loud for them a good portion of the time.

THE UGLY: The fair is wrapped around a truly wonderful carnival; bright, fun rides kept in good repair and plenty to room to move about. However, at $50 per 120 tickets, it was a little steep. At 10 tickets per ride ($50 for 12 rides... $4 per ride!) We could not drop a car payment so our 3 kids could spend 10 minutes on carnival rides. The toy vendors were similarly priced (no great surprise), so there was no compensation for them.

My take-away was that we spent 4 hours wandering about trying to find something for the kids to do only to endure their crying for another hour after having missed out on the one thing they really wanted to do in the first place (the carnival). The fair was a hugely expensive train-wreck for us, but if you have a couple hundred dollars to drop on rides, food, and trinkets then it could be a wonderful time. I recommended to all of our friends not to go; take your kids to a park, have a nice picnic lunch, and save a...

We traveled from Canada to this fair on 17 Aug 2017 (Thurs) early enough to see the grandstand entertainment. We have come for years and look very much forward especially for the noon grounds entertainment. We most enjoy the black pony horses and the numerous wagons in their races. This year thou we were a little disappointed as no races! Yes there were the barrel races, around the pole races but they only showed off the big Clydesdale horses and the wagons. How come no pony wagon races?? We had friends come down just for them also. We have enjoyed the main singer, tractor pulls, plowing, ect. This year we saw the One Armed Bandit which we saw almost 4 years ago. He had a smaller herd of long horns and shorter performance. This year it seemed there was not so much excitement in the announcers voice or ground activities. This fair is very friendly in all booths, many animal barns, and we always enjoy the different volunteer groups, hamburgers, popcorn, ice cream, the arts, and plant shows. I would suggest having some old cars/trucks show included relating to farms. Excellent for families kids of all ages would sure enjoy this fair. We have been to many rodeos, fairs and as this fair is the closest to Abbotsford we come down. Worth the entrance money as includes the noon grounds show also. We enjoy the shopping mall close to the fair for parking as we are seniors. But keep the racing black small ponies and wagons in the show please....

I have been showing here for years and a dog handler and service dog handle this hurt. But this year they were letting any dog come through even though they are a service dog only place. Excluding the exhibitors and may dog show here. They were harassing me with my well trained dog but weren’t with people who’s weren’t this was so stupid. And we’re letting dog walking through the dog barn who obviously weren’t service dogs as they are the only dogs allowed in. I tried to educate the people at the front gate letting them know they are LEGALLY allowed to ask to question to figure out if the dog is a real service dog. And they were refusing and just letting any dog in shame on you. By not protecting real handlers and the animals here and along with the general public....