August in Western Pennsylvania is again chockablock with livestock exhibits, baking competitions and demolition derbies. Farm shows and county fairs are back.
After restrictions on large gatherings were put in place last year to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many farm shows and county fairs had to cancel their well-loved programs. Now, a year later, these celebrations are back, including the Butler Farm Show.
What started as a plowing contest in 1947 has expanded into a six-day event.
The Butler Farm Show, which had to resort to posting fond memories of past farm shows on its Facebook page in 2020, is open for business from Aug. 9-14. Gates open to the farm show’s 73rd year at 8:30 a.m. and close at 11 p.m.
“Everybody's excited to come,” said Ken Metrick, a member of the board of directors for the Butler Farm Show. “It was a tough decision to make last year to not have it, and the community really, really missed it. So yes, everybody is really looking forward to it. They're talking about it. So I think it's going to be a good thing for people to get back into some sense of normalcy.”
According to Mr. Metrick, masks are optional. The farm show will not be mandating any masks or face shields, although he did add that there are “ample” hand-washing and sanitizing stations around the barns.
Along with amusement rides and livestock exhibits, the farm show — which has over 200 commercial exhibits, according to Mr. Metrick — will offer such events as a watermelon eating contest and tractor pulls.
The farm show will also feature a rabbit hopping contest, a goat costume contest, a demolition derby, and an old-time fiddling, banjo, mandolin and flat top guitar contest. Mr. Metrick said he particularly enjoys the junior livestock sale.
“There's entertainment daily, and every evening, there's music entertainment. We have grandstand events, trucks, tractor pulls, the livestock. There's farm products like your home-canned jellies and people's vegetables out of their gardens and quilts and pictures and paintings and wood crafts. There's just a lot of stuff to see,” Mr. Metrick said. “For somebody who's never been there, they just have to experience it and pick out their favorite part of it.
“But there's definitely something here for everybody.”
Food and drink will also be available.
The winners of the special baking contests will be able to enter their products at the Pennsylvania Farm Show held in January 2022.
The statewide Pennsylvania Farm Show was turned into a virtual event in January 2021 due to the pandemic. It is scheduled to take place in-person in 2022, although there will be some virtual activities because of the success of the virtual event.
The Butler Farm Show won’t be the only gathering taking center stage in August.
The Fayette County Fair began on July 29 and will continue until Saturday. Aug. 7. It boasts a monster truck race and a chili cook-off, among other fairground events.
Not long after, the Washington County Agricultural Fair plans to open its gates on Aug. 14. It will last until Aug. 21. It will have magic shows, harness racing, and a corn hole tournament, along with many animal shows.
Armstrong County plans to host the Great Dayton Fair from Aug. 15 to 21, according to its website, and Westmoreland County has scheduled the Westmoreland Fair from Aug. 20 to 28. Both will have rodeos, demolition derbies, and music. The Great Dayton Fair will have vehicle drag racing, while the Westmoreland Fair boasts a square dance social.
To round out the month, Beaver County is celebrating with its Big Knob Grange Fair from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.
Boyce Buchanan: bbuchanan@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BuchananBoyce.
First Published: August 4, 2021, 4:58 p.m.
Updated: August 8, 2021, 11:56 a.m.
