FAIRLEA, W.Va. — State Fair of West Virginia officials are hoping to bring some relief to Greenbrier County when the event kicks off Friday — just more than seven weeks after devastating flood waters impacted the area.
“We wanted to make sure the state ends the summer on a high note and we hope that we be a bright spot in the summer where some people may have not had the best summer,” said Kelly Collins, CEO of the State Fair. “We need to continue to help and rebuild this community.”
The 10-day Fair, located in Fairlea, announced shortly after the June 23rd flood it will begin as scheduled this year because only minor damages were reported there.
“We were lucky here at the State Fair that we only had some minor damage in a few of our buildings, but a lot of our friends, families and coworkers weren’t so lucky,” she said.
This is the 92nd year for the Fair — an event “built on tradition and agriculture,” Collins said. It runs from Aug. 12-21.
Changes to the Fair this year include a new roller coaster and new ticket prices. Children in fifth grade and under can get in for free this year.
The 2016 Concert Series will open at 8 p.m. on Friday with Jake Owen with special guest Old Dominion and will be followed by one of two firework shows at 10:30 pm. Other concerts include King & County, Kane Brown, Vince Neil of Motley Crue and more.
Several other features include free entertainment such as the Kachunga And The Alligator Show, The Granpa Cratchet Show, Sea Splash, Catherine Hickland the Comedic Hypnotist and Rhinestone Roper. Food, carnival rides and more will be on the Fair grounds.
Fair officials will be accepting flood relief donations throughout the week. The Pride of West Virginia University Marching Band will host a benefit concert on Aug. 20 at 1 p.m., which is free with your paid gate admission.
“We’ll have some folks walking around to collect donations and all those donations are actually going to go back to music programs in the state,” Collins said.
Up to 180,000 people are expected to attend the State Fair this year, Collins said.
“We’re pulling people in from all over,” she said. “The big thing is we want people to know Greenbrier County is still open. We did have devastation and we’re still in the recovery process, but our hotels are open, our stores are open and we need people to continue to visit.”
Fair gates open at 9 a.m. each morning.
For a full State Fair schedule, click here.