Bonner County Fair is a go

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

The 2020 Bonner County Fair will showcase the best of the community’s animals, projects and garden bounty from Wednesday, Aug. 19 through Saturday, Aug. 22.

Young fairgoers cool off at the wash racks behind the cattle barn at the 2018 Bonner County Fair. Photo by Roseanne Decker.

The fair will also play host to its traditional events: the concert — this year featuring the Miah Kohal Band and Devon Wade Band — on Aug. 20; the Challenge of Champions Bull Riding on Aug. 21; and the Demolition Derby on Aug. 22. All of those main events will take place in the outdoor arena, with gates opening at 6:30 p.m. and the action starting at 7:30 p.m. each night.

Featured contests throughout the 2020 Bonner County Fair include best beard, a cast iron skillet throwing competition, a mac ’n’ cheese cookoff and more. 

A full schedule of those contests and more can be found online at bonnercountyfair.com or inside the fair book.

Fair Director Darcey Smith said organizers will be taking precautions in response to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. She said volunteers will be given masks and gloves, hand washing and sanitizing stations will be provided, and visitors are encouraged to wear face coverings.

“We recommend but will not require Fair patrons to wear masks,” Smith wrote in a COVID-19 update on the fair’s website. “Coming to the Fair is your decision, please plan to stay home if you are feeling sick or have been in contact with someone who has been sick.”

As for her favorite thing about the annual celebration of all Bonner County has to offer, Smith said she loves to watch people of all ages take part in fair activities.

“I love seeing the kiddos get excited about what they see in the display cases and the animals in the barns,” she said, “but my guilty pleasure is the Demolition Derby. There is something about grown adults fixing up cars for the sole purpose of destroying them in front of a crowd that I find absolutely fantastic.”

The Bonner County Fair buildings, vendors and barns are open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. each fair day. Learn more at bonnercountyfair.com.