Last Friday, Sept. 15 marked the first day of The Great Frederick Fair in 2023, an annual Frederick County tradition few are unaware of. At its heart a celebration of the agricultural industry in Frederick County, the Fair has in recent decades grown into something much larger for its expected 240,000 attendees.
“I’m so excited to visit the Fair this year,” said Aubree Robey, a junior. “I love the energy it brings.”
Drawing the huge crowds to Frederick County’s largest event of the year is a wide variety of games, rides, exhibits, shows, performances, demonstrations and contests, as well as many delicious food and beverage options. In the Grandstand, the Fair’s concert and event venue, a slew of different automobile events and live music performances have been scheduled for the week. Last year’s highlighting of oldies acts such as Joan Jett and Vanilla Ice has been sidelined this year for a number of popular country music artists, exemplified by the Fair’s theme for 2023, “Cowboy Boots and Down Home Roots.”
Last night in the Grandstand, Elle King of “Ex’s and Oh’s” and “Yellowstone” fame performed at 7:30 p.m. alongside The Red Clay Strays while tonight at 7:30 p.m., country singer Tracy Byrd will be performing with Jo Dee Messina. The last Grandstand event of the Fair will be tomorrow when country sensation Walker Hayes performs with Chase McDaniel.
“Wow, Elle King!” said Journalism teacher Ms. Marcotte. “I like that they have different genres [performing]… country, pop, folk.”
Many visitors have so far enjoyed all of the great things the Fair has to offer this year and so have I. On Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday I visited the Fair and had a very fun experience each time.
General admission tickets are being sold at the gates for $10 but if purchased ahead of time on The Great Frederick Fair’s website they are slightly cheaper at $8. I took advantage of this sale before I visited on Tuesday night and will soon be taking advantage of today’s Fair Day event when those under 18 are allowed in for free.
On Saturday, I visited with some friends and we all enjoyed some of the many food options available at the Fair. I stopped at the Demetri’s Greek Foods cart right across from the Fair-famous root beer float truck and ordered a lamb gyro for $15. Demetri’s has some of my favorite gyros in Frederick as they are also the same Greek food providers during the “Greek Fest” hosted by the Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church on 7th Street. I was very pleased with my gyro (covered with tomatoes, onions and tzatziki) and I thought it held up to the high quality of the gyros served at the Greek Fest.
A friend, senior Ethan Putnam, ordered chicken tenders from a nearby stand and was also pleased with his lunch order, but was left wanting more.
“I like chicken,” he reflected. “They were pretty decent… they were fine. They weren’t amazing but they were good.”
Another friend, senior Paul Barrett, ordered an Italian sausage sandwich from the Shuman’s Concessions cart and very much enjoyed his meal, reflecting on the quality afterwards.
“This is heaven,” he declared.
After lunch, we roamed around the fairgrounds and visited each of the livestock exhibits. I thought the cows in the dairy barn looked very comfortable and Barrett particularly enjoyed the swine barn.
We were also able to see some of the home goods and crafts exhibited in the air-conditioned buildings towards the entrance. Many were created by Tuscarora students and some featured students in the artworks.
Towards the end of my Saturday visit, I stopped at the Dairy Bar towards the Grandstand and got some chocolate ice cream. The Dairy Bar is also one of the best places to buy bottled water at the Fair, with each bottle costing only $1 each.
I also visited the Fair on Thursday night and was surprised by the huge crowds. Fortunately, they didn’t stop me from enjoying a Hemp’s roast beef sandwich topped with lots of onions and horseradish. Hemp’s, a staple of the Fair and many visitors’ favorite spot to get a bite to eat, has been serving sandwiches, hamburgers and french fries for as long as I can remember.
Some advice I would give to those thinking about visiting the Fair is to come early, buy tickets ahead of time, take advantage of nightly discounts on entry, shop around different vendors for lower prices (i.e. lemonade for $11 in the carnival area vs. lemonade for $6 just a little farther down) and to have fun.
Overall, I very much enjoyed my experience at the Fair and I’m looking forward to visiting next year.
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https://thegreatfrederickfair.com/
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