Sandwich Fair offers plenty to see and do in 132nd year

SANDWICH – Kristie White of DeKalb hadn’t been to the Sandwich Fair in more than 20 years, but walking through the barns full of farm animals brought back happy memories.

White attended the fair on opening day Wednesday with her two sisters, Lyndsie Bonifas of Aurora and Brandie Fanning of Sandwich, their families and their mom, Tammy Kling of Aurora. Bonifas brought along her 3-year-old daughter, Macie, and 3-month-old son, Jacob; Fanning brought her 2-year-old son, Blayze, and 5-day-old son, Steele.

“For most of my family, the Sandwich Fair is a tradition and they go every year,” White said. “This is my first time at the fair in about 20 years. It’s much, much bigger than I remember, with a lot more to see and do. It brings back a lot of fun memories. Hopefully, we’ll make a lot more fun memories while we’re at the fair together today.”

The 132nd annual Sandwich Fair, 15730 Pratt Road in Sandwich, will run through Sunday.

The fair’s hours are 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

This year’s fair features agricultural exhibits, commercial vendors, carnival rides, antique farm machinery, arts and crafts demonstrations and culinary competitions. The fair not only will offer carnival rides and games for entertainment, but also a diverse lineup of live entertainment and events, including National Tractor Pullers Association-sanctioned truck pulls Thursday, NTPA-sanctioned tractor pulls Saturday and demolition derbies Sunday.

Country music star Scotty McCreery will perform Friday night with special guest Jimmie Allen.

Tickets for the concert cost $35 to stand in the pit area or $25 for festival-style seating to sit in the bleachers, stand or bring your own chair. Handicap seating is also available. The concert gate opens at 5:30 p.m., the concert will begin at 7 p.m. Concert ticket prices do not include admission into the fair.

General admission tickets for the fair are available at the entrance gate. Admission costs $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Five-day season tickets can be purchased in advance or at the gate, $22 for adults and $8 for children. Entry for children ages 5 and younger is free. Parking is free.

Bargain ticket prices are offered: entrance for senior citizens, ages 55 and older, is $6 Thursday until 5 p.m., and everyone is admitted for $6 until 5 p.m. Friday and after 3 p.m. Sunday.

Although many aspects of the fair remain the same each year, one vendor, Open Door Rehabilitation Center, decided to shake-up its items this year.

To celebrate its 50th year at the fair, the lemon shake-up stand will sell a special souvenir 32-ounce cup for $5 that allows for $2 refills.

The stand will also sell 16-ounce lemon shake-ups and sugar-free shake-ups for $2, bottled water and slices of Rosati’s pizza.

Open Door Rehabilitation Center’s lemon shake-up stand can be found directly behind the main bleachers along the track, across from the main event ticket office.

Another addition to this year’s fair is the FFA petting zoo barn.

The new red metal pole barn replaces the old wooden FFA blue-and-gold painted building that was more than 50 years old.

“The new barn is much more open, there’s more room for people to walk by and for the animals and it lets in more light so it’s not as dark as the old one,” Grace Wood, second vice president of the Newark FFA, said. “It’s easier for people to walk through and see and pet the animals.”

Wood visits the fair every year with her family. Even as a young child, she always looked forward to the FFA petting zoo.

“I’ve always loved the animals, but I also love the live music, the food and riding the rides,” Wood said. “Everything about the fair is great, the week of the fair is my favorite time of the year.”

Barb Connally of Naperville attended the fair for the first time with her friend, Carol Richter of Downers Grove.

“It’s a lot of fun, there’s so much to see and do,” Connally said. “There’s definitely something here for all interests and every age.”

For information about the Sandwich Fair, visit www.sandwichfair.com.