By JESSE BERTEL
Across the Street

Get ready for carnival rides, rodeo entertainment and live music. The 2022 Yavapai County Fair will be held at the Prescott Rodeo Grounds, located at 840 Rodeo Dr,  from Sept. 8 to 11.

Rosalee Darby, general manager/chair of the Yavapai County Fair, explained that the fair is an old tradition in Prescott.

“We are one of the longest-running county fairs in the state of Arizona,” Darby said. “We started as the Northern Arizona State Fair in 1913. The Southern Arizona State Fair started in 1914 and the state fair itself started in 1915. So we are the longest running county fair and it used to be all the county fairs of Northern Arizona came together.”

Starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, there will be Bull Riding in the arena. Then, at 7 p.m. there will be live Hispanic music from Banda LaExplosiva and Apache Nueva Imagen.

New to the fair this year, there will be STEM activities for children Thursday through Sunday in Barn A.

“It’s a whole, free, fun area for families where their kids can build magnetic creatures or whatever,” Darby said. “There’s all kinds of different activities, bubbles, coloring, animal projects, things like that that they can just come and enjoy for free.”

Also new this year are BMX stunt riders, performing bike tricks throughout each day.

Friday at 6:30 p.m. is Family Fun Night, including greased pig races. Then, at 7 p.m., there will be musical performances from Mogollon and a Journey Tribute band.

The Grand Canyon Pro Rodeo Association will be performing Saturday and Sunday this year, starting at 9 a.m. in the arena on both days, with a Ranch Rodeo and Wild Horse Race during the 5 p.m. performance on Saturday.

Live musical performances from Exile and Doo Wah Riders start at 7 p.m. Saturday. Jeff Senour and CTS will perform Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Youth Livestock Show runs Thursday through Sunday, with a Livestock auction on Saturday, then Livestock Judging, Costume Contest and Showmanship Balooza on Sunday.

Carnival Hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, 1 to 11 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m to 11 p.m. Saturday and  11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

According to Darby, the event is an important way to bring residents together.

“The reason we have a county fair is so the people that live in our county can come and celebrate together talents of the people within the county,” Darby said. “You have kids that are working on their animal projects to kids and adults that have crafts and different celebrations, plus the entertainment and the time to, you know, get rid of all the garbage that goes on in the world and come and enjoy the fair.”

For more information about the Yavapai County Fair, visit yavapaifair.com.

Jesse Bertel is a reporter/videographer for the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter @ JesseBertel, email him at jbertel@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 2043.