Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Biggest festival weekend of the season
It’s the biggest festival weekend of the fall season with county fairs, church fundraisers, craft shows and heritage festivals around the Tennessee Valley. Anyone who can’t find something to interest them from among the coming week’s 19 events is just pretty hard to please.
This weekend’s Hamilton County Fair offers a little bit of everything — music, crafts, car shows, cows, concessions, crowns and fun for kids — all at Chester Frost Park. The county fair is expected to draw as many as 50,000 folks to the park on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24-25. Some hope to claim a blue ribbon in the agriculture or home-centered exhibits. Some will come for bluegrass music and other nonstop entertainment on three stages.
Daniela Ford, 15, and her brothers Jonathan, 10 and Jacob, 14, will be vying for ribbons in the home-centered and livestock competitions. Carrie Presley, their mother, says the two oldest began competing six years ago, entering photography, horses, jellies and fresh eggs from the family’s 8-acre home in Middle Valley.
“We just enjoy it,” says Presley. “We go to the fair anyway, so we began taking things to enter. Between the three, they win about $100 in prize money each year.”
Then there are the girls who want to bring home a crown. Fairest of the Fair pageants are scheduled Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on the Dallas Island Stage. Mike Dunne, Hamilton County communications manager, says competition groups are divided by ages 10-12, 13-15 and 16-21. Splash Salon will award a $500 gift certificate to the top winner in each age division. The first-place winner of the 16- to 21-yearolds will represent Hamilton County at the Tennessee State Fair Convention in January.
More than 40 antique autos will be on display as well as retro farm equipment and an antique Coca-Cola delivery truck. The Chattanooga Area Model Railroad Club will set up its popular model train layout, complete with 350 feet of track, bridges, overpasses, signals and model trains.
Dunne says the fifth- graders from Big Ridge, Middle Valley and McConnell elementary schools will compete in the fair’s second spelling bee at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on the Pickin’ Porch.
There will be a 24-foot inflatable slide in the kids’ Fun Zone, along with a duck pond, obstacle course, sports challenges, face and hair painting, balloons and gem mining. Close encounters with sheep, goats, a miniature donkey, rabbits, ducks, baby chicks and calves can be found in the petting zoo. New this year is a quad trampoline bungee jump. Some activities are free; others will require $1 tickets.
Vendors Alley will be home for 70 booths selling jewelry, home accents, furniture, art and homemade items. Crafters will also have a variety of holiday and Christmas ornaments, wreaths and other decorations.
Fairgoers may not drive directly to Chester Frost Park unless they have handicap placards. Everyone must park and catch the shuttle at either the Northgate Mall parking lot or at Middle Valley Recreation Center. The shuttle fare of $6 adults, $4 children ages 3-12 includes admission to the fair.
Automobiles with proper handicap designation will be directed to a reserved parking area of Chester Frost Park and riders transported to the fairgrounds from that lot. The handicapped person and one other person per car will be allowed to park for free in this reserved area. Any additional people in the car will be charged $5 to enter the fair, regardless of their ages.