Where can Michiganders find family-friendly summer fun, including a tractor pull, a large children’s petting zoo, pony rides, lawnmower races, food vendors and a Ferris wheel? All can be enjoyed at the Cheboygan County Fair, a community tradition for more than 145 years! It’s held at the Cheboygan County Fairgrounds the second week of August each year, but unfortunately, the 2020 fair was canceled due to the coronavirus. The fair is set to return next year from Aug. 7–14, 2021. Now established as one of the state’s premier county fairs, the festival enjoys more than 25,000 attendees each summer from all over the country.
“Expect a great time at a professionally-operated carnival with one of the best safety ratings in the nation,” explained former Cheboygan County Fair Board President Ron Williams. Located near the beautiful Cheboygan River, the fair features carnival rides, traditional fair food, and a PIE&G-sponsored petting zoo, as well as heart-pounding grandstand activities to keep the adrenaline flowing, Williams said. The Cheboygan County Fair also boasts a variety of equestrian events, a mud run, monster trucks, and dirt track racing.
The Cheboygan County Youth Livestock Program, in cooperation with the Michigan State University 4-H program, hosts the Annual Youth Livestock Auction the final Saturday of the fair. Open to the public, the auction is an opportunity to purchase high-quality livestock products while supporting hard-working youth from across the region. Also, the Cheboygan 4-H youth display the fruits and vegetables they’ve spent the summer growing and are then judged on them. A farmer’s market, which runs select days of the festival, allows festival-goers to purchase the award-winning produce and products.
Finally, for those who think their grandma’s blueberry pie or their recently-sewn afghan quilts are genuinely prize-worthy, they can enter their baked goods, canned goods, and even their handmade textiles into fair contests.
“The Cheboygan County Fair has been a family tradition for many years,” concluded Williams. “Hundreds of volunteers work hard each summer to make the event easy to attend and the carnival enjoyable for everyone.”
For more information and to enter contests, please visit www.cheboygancountyfair.com or search Cheboygan County Fair on Facebook.
