Jenna Fiorito of Batavia looks forward to the middle of July each year because she gets to visit a venue she’s been coming to “since I was a little girl.”
“I’ve lived here since I was three years old and I’m familiar with this event – coming here every year and seeing the animals. I’ll be here tomorrow as well,” Fiorito said as she passed rows of stalls filled with cows this Thursday afternoon in St. Charles.
“I like coming here to see what’s going on in Kane County and have fun. I think this event is very clean and very well organized.”
Beginning Wednesday, July 16, the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles welcomed thousands to the 156th annual Kane County Fair – billed as “one of the oldest and long-standing fairs in the country.”
With an eclectic mix of entertainment that runs the gambit from a petting zoo, classic car show, nightly music shows, and carnival rides, the annual fair always reintroduces guests to its share of animal attraction including pig races, bull riders, and even barrel races, which were added this year.
President of the Board of Directors for the fair Larry Breon of Batavia said he believes the continued appeal of the fair is definitely tied to the animal attractions that are offered.
“There are carnivals every year around our area all the time so that’s nothing special, but what makes ours unusual is that we have livestock. Back in the day, not too many years ago, our area was agriculturally-based,” Breon said. “People see livestock which they don’t see anymore, which makes our event different. We have a 4-H program in our county and we give them a chance to show off their work and projects to the public.”
Breon added that guests who come to the fair “can see everything from a cow being milked through a window to goats and beef cattle and pigs.”
“I really think the animals are the attraction from the racing pigs, but we also have magic shows and bull riding and a demo derby and there are lots of activities going on every day – there’s
different things for different people,” he said.
Breon notes the outdoor venue can draw 60,000 people over the five days, weather permitting.
“I’d say we get about 15 percent new people that come out each year,” he said. “A lot of people for many years didn’t realize the fairground was redeveloped and redesigned. I used to say for
many years we have two seasons – we had dust and we had mud, and now we don’t have either. It’s a very nice venue.”
Lightning, followed by an hour’s downpour of rain, pushed back Wednesday’s opening for more than an hour, officials said Thursday, although carnival rides and food vendors later reopened.
On Thursday, cloudy skies remained but the fair pressed on and featured professional championship women barrel racing at 7:30 p.m. as well as a magic show, petting zoo, an animal
race featuring “swifty swine racing pigs” and music at the sound stage.
Tony Siracusa of Peotone was working an arcade booth that offered the chance to shoot at targets and said he has been at the fair “for over 10 years” adding that the event “has grown exponentially.”
“Definitely – from when I first started. We have good years and bad years like everything else in business but hopefully this will be another good year,” Siracusa said. “Coming out to something
that has this much history – it pays off. We do have a lot of spots [other carnivals] that we play, but with all the time it takes to get things set up here – it’s heartwarming to be a part of it.”
While carnival rides weren’t drawing a lot of attention within the first hour of opening Thursday afternoon – animal exhibits certainly were.
Missy Johnson of Sycamore said she brings beef cattle every year and “has been coming here since 1992.”
“For me, I grew up doing 4H and this was always a big part of our lives and all our friends were here and we all had common interests,” she said. “This was where we came to be with all our
friends and now my kids do it.”
Mary Beth Casty of Winnetka and her cousin Judy Bond of Northbrook said this was their first time visiting the event and both professed to be animal lovers.
“I love animals – the attraction is they’re sometimes more human than humans – many are consistent and I just like them because – they have a heart,” Casty said.
“This is our first time and we heard about it on the radio and were out in Geneva at a shop and decided to come over and check it out,” Bond added. “The big reason we came was to see the animals – we saw pigs and cows and rabbits. I’m not a farm girl, but I enjoy the animals.”
