Has anybody been to the Ellis County fair?

Curious if anyone on this message board has attended the fair. I personally haven't but wondering if I've missed something.

not I, I am far too pregnant to go waddle around in the heat. I would be miserable very quickly... lol

No, missed nothing, no money for advertizing, poly carts, trees under I-70, and the HCVB consumed the budget....

Welcome to Hays.

The hubby and son-in-law went to races last Saturday and we went to the races last Sunday. They were good, but that's been it. I think our son and his girl are going to the demo tomorrow.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine"

The fair pretty much blew ass this year. The Wild West Fest blows the county fair out of the water. Hell the carnival didn't even have the zipper or a ferris wheel.

Degeneration X wrote:

The fair pretty much blew ass this year. The Wild West Fest blows the county fair out of the water. Hell the carnival didn't even have the zipper or a ferris wheel.

I agree with you DX. I went out there with some friends and all we wanted was shaved ice. They had none. I remember the days when the Ellis County Fair was the best thing ever, I don't know what happened but it is a sad, sad thing!!!!

chiefsfan wrote:

I remember the days when the Ellis County Fair was the best thing ever, I don't know what happened but it is a sad, sad thing!!!!

I remember when the sidewalk bazaar was the best thing ever. I never knew there was such a thing as a fair, when I was a kid.

I had something else to do and never made it this year. No offense to motorsports fans, but I get tired of nothing but motorsports and redneck entertainers. Best thing last year was that band from Wichita on the stage by the beer garden doing a great job of cranking out classics by the likes of Zepplin and Pink Floyd. Guys at work have submitted requests to a fair board member for either Metallica, Rob Zombie or maybe Oz Fest at next years fair.

Really though, our fair has gotten to be little more than racing events, the rodeo, and a shit carnival with few venders. Maybe we need fair board members who aren't involved in racing. If all they want to do is have racing and demo derbys they should just do that separate and call it motor week, and merge the County Fair and Wild West Fest as one big event.

And I agree the old sidewalk bazaar was kinda fun many moons ago.

suzyr wrote:

chiefsfan wrote:

I remember the days when the Ellis County Fair was the best thing ever, I don't know what happened but it is a sad, sad thing!!!!

I remember when the sidewalk bazaar was the best thing ever. I never knew there was such a thing as a fair, when was a kid.

Oh yea the sidewalk bazaar was great too!!!!!!

You think the Ellis county fair is bad you should see the Russell County Fair. It is really bad the only thing that brings anybody out to the fair grounds is the dem derby and the fair board has nothing to do with it.

I just kinda feel there are individuals behind the Ellis Co. fair that feel if those that like motorsports and the ones that want cowboy tunes and rodeo all get what they want, screw getting anything new and unique.

I'm not against all those things, but it'd be nice to see something really new. To me something new doesn't mean wrecking school busses in a demo instead of cars, or having go cart races instead of lawn mower races.

Maybe a great idea for the fair would be to have carney olympics. The first game is to feed the carney's a bunch of chili dogs and then take them on the Gravitron and see how many come out puking. The 2nd event could be take the carney to The Home and see how many of them come out of there without getting the crap kicked out of them. The 3rd event could be where's the carney. We could drop a carney off at the Wild Rose and see if we can find the carney, you know kind of like where's Waldo.

chiefsfan wrote:

I remember the days when the Ellis County Fair was the best thing ever, I don't know what happened but it is a sad, sad thing!!!!

From what I understood, the fair had an excellent manager years ago. He brought in acts like Foreigner when they were actually still pretty popular. However, there were people on the fair board who made unsubstantiated accusations against him, and he was subsequently fired. This angered said manager to the point of going out and organizing the Wild West Fest to compete with, and ultimately bring down, the county fair. Meanwhile, the fair board had a local media group managing the entertainment for a few years. I don't know if they are still doing so, but it's obvious that there is no budget for entertainment and no desire for the fair to be anything but a 4-H show. While attendance at the fair has fallen steadily, attendance at the Wild West Fest has risen almost every year. That same former Ellis County Fair manager is also now the manager of a little event at Tuttle Creek State Park in late June. The official name slips my mind, but it has something to do with running cattle.

past several years I would just go to the ellis county fair just to see the 4H stuff, other then that I will go up to stockton for the rooks county fair, you still have your motor sports but there are actual venders and stuff for everyone to do.

Rooks Co. has always put out an effort. My dad always took me to that one.

The Other One wrote:

That same former Ellis County Fair manager is also now the manager of a little event at Tuttle Creek State Park in late June. The official name slips my mind, but it has something to do with running cattle.

That'd be the Country Stampede.

We will be attending the Sheridan County Fair in Hoxie again this year. A home grown carnival, lots of games for the young kids, and a great family environment. I wouldn't miss it.

when is that fair?

luv2cook wrote:

That'd be the Country Stampede.

Which drew a mere 155,000 attendees this year.

I wouldn't go to the Country Stampede if I had free tickets, which I proved this year by giving away the four free tickets that I had for Sunday, but this story is great.

On Thursday night, as seems to be the pattern here in Eastern Kansas, there were thunderstorms that washed out the performance by The Charlie Daniels Band. The band was paid per their contract, and they left for their next gig in Chicago. But Charlie Daniels felt like he shouldn't let his fans down, so he called the officials at the Stampede and asked if they could work him into the show on Sunday. They did, and the band drove back to Manhattan from Chicago at their own expense after their Saturday night show, took the stage at about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, and gave what many people are calling the best performance of the weekend. It had to be a physical strain on the 71-year-old Daniels, not to mention the cost, especially with the current price of diesel for their busses.

So kudos to Charlie Daniels. He embodies the spirit of a true entertainer.

why is hays soooooooooooooooooo stuck in the past,and so resistant to change and new things?makes me insane.

Jess the Hoxie fair is this weekend.

The Other One wrote:

chiefsfan wrote:

I remember the days when the Ellis County Fair was the best thing ever, I don't know what happened but it is a sad, sad thing!!!!

From what I understood, the fair had an excellent manager years ago. He brought in acts like Foreigner when they were actually still pretty popular. However, there were people on the fair board who made unsubstantiated accusations against him, and he was subsequently fired. This angered said manager to the point of going out and organizing the Wild West Fest to compete with, and ultimately bring down, the county fair. Meanwhile, the fair board had a local media group managing the entertainment for a few years. I don't know if they are still doing so, but it's obvious that there is no budget for entertainment and no desire for the fair to be anything but a 4-H show. While attendance at the fair has fallen steadily, attendance at the Wild West Fest has risen almost every year. That same former Ellis County Fair manager is also now the manager of a little event at Tuttle Creek State Park in late June. The official name slips my mind, but it has something to do with running cattle.

Thank you for the explaination. I always wondered if the Wild West Fest had something to do with the ECF sucking!! This is all very interesting!

nobodysbusiness wrote:

Jess the Hoxie fair is this weekend.

Cool, thanks!!!

1. Hoxie fair is that the one that ride tickets are 25 cents and one ticket per ride?

2. Hays thinks it's are in johnson county