CENTRE HALL — The Grange Fair is celebrating its 149th anniversary this year from Aug. 18 to 26. Thousands of people from throughout the United States will flock to Centre Hall to enjoy 10 days of livestock shows, food, carnival rides and entertainment at the last remaining tenting fair in America.
“We’re the only true encampment in the U.S.,” said Darlene Confer, general manager and tent secretary for the Grange Fair. She’s not aware of a comparable event anywhere else in the world.
“It’s very complex,” she said. “I don’t think people, the general public, think about the amount of hours and coordination it takes to put something of this magnitude on for essentially a two-week period.”
Confer said the fair has 1,000 tents and 1,500 RV spaces. Tenters can add kitchens and porches to their tents on Aug. 13 to alleviate congestion on move-in day, which is Aug. 17. RVs are allowed to arrive over a five-day period, beginning on Aug. 12, and can take up residence upon arrival. “They come from Texas, California, Montana, north to Connecticut and Rhode Island, and south to Florida and Georgia,” Confer said.
“It’s very popular because it’s a family-oriented fair,” she said. “Many of the people who come have had family ties for over a hundred years.”
The Grange Fair publishes a journal that people can consult to see how many years their families have been tenting. The information is not complete, and some has been lost through the years, Confer said.
“New spaces for tenting and camping are very limited,” she said. “We are pretty much maxed out with the amount of tents and RVs we can put in place. It’s a lot of families to move into an area, so it does get very congested. Plus, the concessions are moving in and at some point, the animals are moving in. There’s a lot going on.”
She expects between 350 to 400 concessions, including food, carnival games and other vendors. Musical performances will occur in various venues during the day, with 8 p.m. concerts at the grandstand every night except Sunday.
“Education is very important to us. It’s part of our mission here,” Confer said. “We have an on-site librarian, J.A. Babay. She provides programming every day for the children. At some point, she did the chicken dance and the kids just loved it. It just grew and grew, and now it’s actually a part of our schedule. At 4 p.m. every day, that infamous chicken dance takes place and it is very well-attended.”
Grange Fair has a library, museum and playground. Staff take mail to the post office daily. “I think people are very surprised to find the extent that we are a small community in ourselves during those two weeks,” she said.
The huge campus, 264 acres, fills to capacity for the fair.
“We have a wonderful grounds crew, and people who run the equine center,” she said. “We have almost a hundred buildings here and it takes a lot of upkeep to keep them looking nice.”
By late July, Confer said, all of the basics have been completed — marketing, advertising, entertainment contracts, livestock entries, registration cards for tenters and RVs, garbage collection, recycling, sound and other necessities. Exhibit entries are due in early August.
“We have 25 departments here,” she said. “We hire an additional 375 to 400 people to run the fair. We’re also very fortunate to have around 200 volunteers, which is great.”
She said the team is busy preparing with groundskeeping, painting, paving, adding new signage, and checking on the electrical, lighting, water and sewage systems.
“It takes us at least two weeks to get those tents up,” Confer said.
“Many people have developed close relationships with their neighbors, people who tent beside them, many of them for their whole lives. So, it’s like a big family reunion. A lot of time is spent at the tents and RVs talking to your neighbors, getting reacquainted and finding out what new has happened in families in the past year. Those people are the backbone of our fair. It’s very important to them, and it’s important to their families and the future generations. They’re going to be the basis of our fair continuing for many, many years.”
The fair offers a lot of activities to keep residents active and fit, including Mount Nittany Health walks every morning, walking with the YMCA and the Grange Fair 5K on the first Saturday.
“So, there are avenues for forcing yourself to get out there and get yourself some exercise and work off those sticky buns,” she said.
“There’s absolutely entertainment all day, every day, on various venues at our fair,” Confer said.
“We have a good lineup for entertainment this year. There are activities for all age groups.”
People are surprised that there’s no extra charge for the evening concerts, she added. This year’s artists include the Oak Ridge Boys, Drake Milligan and the HunterGirl, from American Idol.
“We are very blessed to have a very active agricultural community here, especially with our 4H and FFA participants. Our animal barns are full to capacity this year. Of course, there will be no poultry because of the avian flu,” she said. “There’s animal judging every day.
“One of the huge hits at our fair is the draft horse competition, and that’s out at our equine center,” Confer said. “Especially the six horse hitch teams.” She said at least 20 teams will compete, and the fair will have two other equine events.
The competition track is open every day.
“We have everything there from kiddie tractor pulls to hot stock tractors, the big smokers, modified, and we even have side-by-side drag racing,” Confer said.
Packer’s Concessions sponsors the Motorsports Day and Car Show on Wednesday. “They have a giveaway, some huge number of bicycles and all sorts of things. It’s really great,” she said.
Bartlebaugh Rides and Garbrick Rides run the carnival rides. On some days, there are discounts on rides, parking or admission for different ages.
“Before coming they should go to our website, look at the up-to-date schedule and download the app because there’s so much information available there,” Confer said. “Come prepared for any type of weather. Have a good time!”
For more information, call (814) 364-9212 or visit grangefair.com.
