61st Bridgewater Country Fair Opens August 17

BRIDGEWATER — The 61st Bridgewater Country Fair will return to the Route 133 fairgrounds (100 Main Street South) Friday through Sunday, August 17-19.

Gates will be open from 4 to 11 pm on Friday, 8 am until 11 pm on Saturday, and 8 am until 7 pm Sunday. Admission is $8, $5 for senior citizens on Saturday and Sunday, and free for ages 12 and under.

Three-day passes are available for $16.

The event is presented by and serves as a fundraiser for Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department.

With the exception of guide dogs and pet parade entrants, please note that no pets are allowed on the fairgrounds.

The Firemen’s Parade, a major event of the fair, will step off on Friday at 6:45, featuring fire departments, color guards and bands from across Connecticut and New York.

This fair will also host the 3rd Annual Firemen’s Muster. Teams of four firefighters will be competing in a grueling course on Saturday beginning at 11 am.

Entertainment will include performances by Flashback on Friday, and Smokin’ Joe West and Creative Forse, Chad Burdick, and Jason Michael Caroll on Saturday. Sunday’s musical entertainment will be performed by Jessie Mayer, and Buck Edwards & The Buckshots.

Exhibits offered all weekend will include vegetable, canning and eggs, fruit and flower shows, baking, hobbies, needlework, art and photo exhibits, cattle and poultry displays, wool and shearing, industrial and agricultural exhibits. Carnival rides including those for the younger set will begin running at 5 pm on Friday and continue all weekend.

The fair will also have plenty of commercial tents, and food and refreshment stands including all of the just cooked roast beef and chicken the fair is famous for.

A children’s pet parade will open the bandstand stage at 9:30 Saturday morning, followed by a pedal tractor pull for ages 10 and under (which will be offered again on Sunday at 11); children and their pets must be registered in advance (walk-ins are no longer allowed). Tractor Mac will have a number of shows on the bandstand each day.

Hot Dog Pig Racing and Freestyle Motocross demonstrations will be offered repeatedly all weekend. Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Shows, and Kuykendall Border Collie herding demos will be offered a few times each day, Saturday and Sunday.

Junior Dairy & Beef shows will begin at 9 on Saturday, an antique tractor pull will begin at 2:30, and a pony pull will begin at 3, also on Saturday.

The Junior Showmanship competition will begin at 9 am Sunday, a day that will also include ox judging and drawing, and a garden tractor pull.

Six prizes have again been arranged for this year’s raffle.

Tickets are $5 each and will be available until the close of the fair on Sunday. This year’s top prize is a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox all-wheel drive crossover. Additional prizes are a 7 kw generator and 8-circuit transfer switch; 50-inch fire pit and four outdoor chairs; camping and fishing equipment; a $530 gift certificate (one massage service per month, for one person) from Massage Envy; and a $500 gift certificate from Alexis Studio Design.

The raffle drawing will be held on Monday, August 22, at 6 pm, at Bridgewater Fire House. Winners do not need to be present to win. Prizes are not redeemable for cash. Tickets are also available before the fair at Bridgewater Country Store, Bridgewater Mobil, and from most Bridgewater Fire and Auxiliary members.

New at this year’s fair is Dunking For Dollars, a dunking booth sponsored by the fire company’s women’s auxiliary; a Special Occasion Class within the Flower Exhibits, which offers designers competitions with candles within their arrangement (A Happy Birthday), pastels (Mother’s Day) and Halloween as a theme; local competition in the Litchfield County of Fairs Mini Scarecrow Competition; a King Arthur Flour Baking Contest, in which competitors prepare their favorite frosted cupcake recipe using King Arthur flour as an ingredient;

Details about each of these new events, many of which require pre-fair registration, is available online at BridgewaterFair.com.

For additional information call the fair office, 860-354-4730, or visit BridgewaterFair.com. A complete schedule for the weekend is available online.