Westmoreland Fair returns this weekend with more to see

By Renatta Signorini

Trib Total Media

There will be plenty of potential pandemic hobbies on display starting Friday as the Westmoreland Fair returns.

Entry office secretary Leanna Landy said entries for inside exhibits — such as handmade goods and food items — have increased this year after the 2020 fair was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think it was because people were stuck at home,” Landy said, referring to a time in 2020 when state officials advised everyone stay at home in an effort to slow the pandemic’s spread. “They were re-initiating old hobbies or initiating new ones.”

There will be quite a showdown for best apple pie and the top chocolate cake, too.

“There are a lot of entries,” she said.

The annual event kicks off 4 p.m. Friday after a year hiatus. Organizers are expecting booming attendance amid a drop in livestock entries, something Landy said other fairs in the area have seen this year. She attributed it to uncertainty about whether the fair would go on as planned in 2021 after its cancellation in 2020. That left members of 4H groups unsure of whether to prepare animals for months long projects that culminate at the annual event.

“These kids and families did not know whether to purchase these market animals or not,” she said. “It was directly influenced by the pandemic uncertainty.”

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