Summer officially hits next week, Tuesday, June 21, and Saturday officially starts the beginning of the 2022 Clinton County Fair.

Clinton County Fair Board President Mike Matthews said they have been prepping all year and he is excited to have a full fair this year after having two year’s of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We should be more than full scale this year,” Matthews said. “Pre-COVID, we had one of the best carnivals a small town fair could get their hands on, but the owner passed away from cancer in 2019. We didn’t have anything in 2020 anyways, but in 2021 we were really struggling to get a carnival and we ended up getting the best we could in the short time frame we had and it wasn’t really what we were hoping for.”

Matthews said the carnival this year is Casey Rides and he is expecting big things from this year’s group.

“They will actually start moving in on Sunday morning, but with the labor shortages and everything else, they will be up and running by Tuesday night,” Matthews said.

This year’s fair will begin on Saturday night, June 18, as the Fair will bring back FFA/4H Days. In the past, FFA/4H was a huge day for the kids and spectators alike as tractor driving, cattle judging and other contests were a hot topic among fair enthusiast.

The event is back this year and will kick off fair week starting at 10 a.m.

Saturday night, beginning at 6 p.m., with registration at 4 p.m., will be the ATV Rodeo. Classes include, barrels, poles and keyhole with different categories for ages eight and under to age 15. Also there will be adult classes for different events including, 0-300 four stroke to open classes.

Sunday the fairgrounds will host a Car Show from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. and the Sparkling Stars Special Needs Pageant at 3 p.m. with no admission.

Monday night, June 20, the Clinton County Fair Beauty Pageants will begin at 5 p.m. with $10 gate admission. Pageants will follow one after the other starting with the Little Miss and Mister, Pre Teen, Teen, and Miss pageants.

Also on Monday night will be a new event for the Clinton County Fair as Donkey Ball gets underway at 7 p.m. in the center ring.

“It’s a brand new event,” Matthews said. “They are a traveling group and they bring in all the donkeys. It’s going to be an alumni baseball/softball game. It will be pretty interesting. They have to hit the ball, get on their donkey, get to the bases … if you are playing in the field and the ball is hit to you, you have to get off your donkey, field the ball and get back on your donkey.”

Family night will kick off on Tuesday, June 21 with many of the same events guaranteed to run all the energy out of children and adults alike. Matthews said the fair is bringing back an old event not seen in several years with the Greased Pig contest.

“We’ve had one setback with family night this year and we weren’t able to book the petting zoo,” Matthews said.

On the lower track Tuesday night will be the Wildcat Lawnmower Pull starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday night’s admission to the fair is $10.

Wednesday night, June 22, the Clinton County Fair will have Catfish Wranglin’ and Minnow Snatchin’ at 6 p.m. with Ohio Valley Wrestling beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting until 9 p.m.

OVW wrestling is a product of Matt Jones, host of Kentucky Sports Radio and could possibly make an appearance at the event.

On the lower track, the Clinton County Fair will put on the Dirt Drags beginning at 7 p.m.

Admission for Wednesday’s event will be $12.

On Thursday night, June 23, will be Go-Kart Racing from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. with the MTPA Truck and Tractor Pull on the lower track from 7 p.m.- 10 p.m.

Admission for Thursday night is $12.

Friday night is usually a big night to be at the Clinton County Fair with the Demolition Derby kicking off at 7 p.m. with everything from small cars to truck/van outlaw classes.

Also on Friday night is the Kubota Tractor Give-a-way which will begin at 7 p.m.

Matthews said they are already sold out of tickets for the tractor give-a-way and selling out this early is a new record for the fair board.

“We have never sold out of tickets this early before,” Matthews said. “Last year we sold out the day before the fair started and that was a record. This year we sold out 10 days before the fair started.”

Matthews believes having the derby on one night instead of two, like last year, will bring an even bigger crowd to the fairgrounds this year.

“It sort of split our crowd up a little bit, but this year its all on one night,” Matthews said. “We expect that to be a real big night.”

Admission for Friday night is $12.

The fair will conclude on Saturday, June 25, with the Full Throttle Monster Truck event beginning at 7 p.m. with a $15 gate admission.

“It’s all sponsored by Don-Franklin. We couldn’t do it if we didn’t have our sponsors,” Matthews said. “We are hoping to put enough on, with the cost of gas and things like that, everybody can come and see a good show and the kids can ride and get some good carnival food.”

Other than the events, people have to eat and according to Matthews there will be something for everyone to fulfill their taste buds.

“We have everything from BBQ to an ice cream vendor this year. The FFA kids will have their booth going and will have everything from chicken to tenderloin to walking tacos. We have the Johnson’s coming out of Cumberland County with their BBQ truck, Granny’s is bringing their food truck and lemonade stand … there will be a good variety of things.”

The Clinton County Fair runs from Saturday, June 18 through Saturday June 25, with something for everyone.

For more information on events and to download applications, go to: www.clintoncofair.com

Exhibit Hall

location, times

Local residents interested in participating in the agriculture, arts and crafts and 4-H Exhibit entries for the fair, should note that the Exhibit Hall will be held at the Clinton County Extension Office located on U.S. 127 north of Albany.

Following is the list of times for those exhibit entries:

The 2022 Clinton County Fair Exhibit Hall has changed locations for this year’s fair and all exhibits and exhibit viewing will be held at the Clinton County Extension Office on U.S. 127 North in Albany.

The following are the times for this year’s Fair Exhibit Hall entries:

Entry Times

Thursday, June 23rd

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Exhibit Hall Viewing

Thursday, June 23rd

2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Friday, June 24th

8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Cash-out/Pickup Items

Friday, June 24th

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.