Van Wert County Fairgrounds / Van Wert County Agricultural Society — Local services in Van Wert

In our quest to visit more of western Ohio we decided to go to the Van Wert County Fair. Admission was $10.00 per person, parking was free. We did not go to a grandstand event because we decided to go spur of the moment and had no plans. It is a small fair compared to what we are used to at The Portage County Randolph Fair and The Canfield Fair (In Mahoning County) I looked up the population of Van Wert County, under 29,000. The size actually made it more enjoyable for us. The food trucks were plentiful. We chose a BBQ from Lima OH I got a salad with pulled pork. My husband got a pulled Pork Sandwich with two sides, he chose cole slaw potatoe salad. 32 oz. Unsweet tea was only $2.00 each. A wood carver was demonstrating his craft next to the open tent where we ate. It was very interesting and entertaining. He used some power tools for large cuts. The end products were about three feet tall. There was a car show that my husband greatly enjoyed. Off to see the animals. The cow barn is pictured, we also visited sheep, goats, rabbits, horses, pigs... We enjoyed watching some of the youngest 4 -H members show their pigs. Sorry I am not a poultry person, we skipped their barn. (I guess I got my fill when our daughter's family had a hobby farm.) Rides...they looked like a lot of fun, it was enjoyable just to walk through and see the joy on the faces of the young people riding. Families carrying prizes from the midway games, Families together enjoying themselves. There was a put-put golf course set up, but we ran out of time to play. The tractor display was small but mighty, to see how far farm equipment has come is impressive. While in that area we saw an historical marker and a bridge across a stream. A photo of the historical significance of the bridge is included below. It was a two hour drive one way, taking all state and US routes. We intend to make plans to take in a grandstand...

Might as well not even have a fair.. 11 dollars to get into a fair that don't ha e anything. Kids just as much. What a joke... I think if wasn't for all the great kids doing 4-h there wouldn't be any reason to have it. Boring. Waste of money... games 10 dollars.. almost 5 dollars a ride. A regular family may be able to go and enjoy with kids. But you ave a large family have take a mortgage out just to get in the stupid thing. And maybe get a 5 to 10 corndog.. If you think about it. Probly get more traffic in a place at 3 or 5 dollars instead of 11 a day. Just disappointed in it. And honestly don't care. And if the fair grounds was really smart which they not. Spend some of that money you get and get the AMA BACKED RACES... THAT BRING A WHOLE DIFFERNT WORLD TO THE PLACE. CAUSE WAY I HERE. They have one nice motocross track. But don't want to senction way I hear it. Losing out of a lot of extra income for different levels. Pro moto cross riders comming town using hotels...

This is about as much of a "check the box" fair I have ever seen. I would be curious to see the planning that took place. I haven't been to the VWC fair for several years and won't be back for many more to come. We took our four year old expecting the fair of yesteryear and instead stepped into a dirty, dumpy mess resembling nothing of my memories. She lost interest in less than an hour. Everything was just shoved in with no rhyme or reason and half the grounds weren't even in use.

I read some reviews, from 2012, and it appears to have only gotten worse. I am curious how you plan on fixing this. Major, major...