Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fair starts Tuesday
Benton County event adds alcohol, team roping.
BENTONVILLE — Alcohol sales and expanded rodeo events await visitors this year at the Benton County Fair.
The 115th annual fair starts Tuesday and runs through Saturday at the fairgrounds, 7640 S.W. Regional Airport Blvd.
Admission is free, but carnival rides and food must be purchased, said Susan Koehler, fair manager.
Pride Amusements will return to the midway with a host of rides and entertainers, including the Hambone Express piglet races.
The carnival will complement the junior livestock shows and auction, pageants, horse shows, an antique tractor pull as well local food vendors and exhibits, according to a fair news release.
The fair will open with the dairy goat show at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the online schedule. Judging, shows and exhibits will be held throughout the week leading up to the junior livestock auction Saturday night. There are 214 contestants in eight animal categories, said Johnny Gunsaulis with the University of Arkansas’ Cooperative Extension Service.
A new feature this year will be alcohol sales from noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Koehler said. The fair received a temporary alcohol beverage permit to sell local craft beer, some domestic beer and canned margaritas, she said.
Team roping will start at 8 p.m. Thursday, and a barrel racing exhibition and jackpot will start at 7 p.m. Saturday. This is the first year for team roping, and the third consecutive year for barrel racing, officials said.
More than 100, two-man teams are expected for the team roping, said Nathan Sorrell of Crane, Mo., who will provide the livestock for the event. The top four teams will split between $3,500 and $4,000, Sorrell said.
“It will catch on,” he predicted of rodeo events at the fair. “There are lots of horse people around here. It will get a little bit better each year.”
Sorrell said he used to hold team roping events in Elm Springs, but local cowboys suggested he use the fairgrounds arena near Vaughn. Sorrell had team roping events at the arena once a month last winter. Some days as many as 200 teams showed up, he said. Sorrell calls the arena the “best facility around.”
Jeanie Sims of Garfield, president of the Northwest Arkansas Horse Show Association, expects about 50 barrel racers to compete.
The field will depend on
how much money is in the jackpot, Sims said. Eightyeight competitors entered two years ago when $1,000 was added to the winnings, she said. There was no money added last year, and 25 contestants rode.
Sims expects $500 in added money this year. Competitors pay a $35 entry fee paid back through four divisions based on the top riding times, she said. The first division winner gets 40% of the pot, the second 30%, the third 20% and the fourth 10%.
The added money is divided among the divisions, she said.
“As long as we have the crowd and participants show up, we will look to expand,” she said.
Fair attendance has grown over the past few years, Koehler said. About 33,000 people attended in 2018 compared to 30,000 in 2017, she said.
“It’s a great opportunity to connect with the history of Benton County,” she said. “Benton County is still one of the top agricultural producers in the state.”
Benton County was ranked No. 1 among the state’s 75 counties and No. 5 among all counties in the United States for total sales of livestock, poultry and their products, according to the 2017 agriculture profile of the county provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistics service.
The fair’s location is entrenched after a move out of downtown Bentonville in 2007, Koehler said.
“A whole generation of kids doesn’t know anything different,” she said of the location. “We want to remember those fond memories (of the old location), but we are making additional memories.”