Washington County Agricultural Fair offers preview

The weeklong celebration of agriculture in the county gets underway Aug. 9.

Washington County Fair President Todd Richards speaks to the media Thursday. Sarah Pellis / MVI

The annual Washington County Agricultural Fair will kick off next week with the theme “Pennsylvania Fairs Cultivating Future Generations.”

On Thursday, the fairgrounds hosted media to preview the year’s festivities as the fair, which runs Aug. 9-16, will focus on the historic significance and agricultural industry in Washington County.

Washington County Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Kotula said the fair is special and one of his favorite events of the year because of its ability for the community to come together to recognize the accomplishments and the contributions of those in the agriculture industry as well as the families that support it.

“When you think of Washington County, you think of very visible industries,” Kotula said. “Natural gas, health care, manufacturing. But many people don’t think about the impact agriculture has on our county and on our state. It’s actually one of the largest industries within our county, and within our commonwealth, and most people don’t think that.”

The nonprofit is Pennsylvania’s oldest fair, dating back to October 1798. In 2024, the fair drew more than 62,000 people — generating an estimated economic impact of $23 million, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture study, and supporting more than 200 jobs with $8 million in earnings.

Washington County’s tourism industry is a $700 million a year business, according to Kotula, supporting 5,300 jobs and bringing in tourists from around the region.

The fair features nearly 2,000 animals, 2,600 agricultural exhibits and more than 6,000 youth craft exhibits, according to fair president Todd Richards, including horses, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, swine, goats and rabbits as well as hay, grain, fruits, nuts and more.

Entertainment includes a rodeo, high school band night, school bus demolition derby, street stock trucks, drag rac- ing, pro stock tractors, antique tractors, concerts and more.

“We have a pretty exciting lineup for you this year at the fair,” said fair President Todd Richards. “As always, we have our bus derby night on Wednesday, which is probably our highest attendance night of the year. But it is starting to be rivaled with the rodeo on Sunday.

“The rodeo and the bus derby are now competing for each other for the number of paid attendees and attendants through the gate, so it is very exciting to see that these events are working with each other to bring numbers up.”

Fair Vice President Wayne Hunnell said there are around 450 4-H members — a youth development organization focused on building leadership, citizenship and life skills through hands-on learning experiences — involved in the fair who participate in selling animals and exhibits.

“The 4-H FFA members would be buying a $10 wristband, which gets them in every day during the fair. Range Resources is taking care of that, so that wristband to those members is at no cost to them,” Hunnell said. “There was an entrance fee depending on what animal you were entering by class, which is also covered by them.”

They come mostly from Washington County, and sheep sellers come from Greene County because they cannot sell sheep at their fairs, according to Hunnell.

Richards said the livestock sale is the best part of the week as people come out to support local kids.

“It’s an exciting time to me because you get to see those kids go from start to finish,” Richards said. “Steer projects start the week right after the fair, and we feed them all year long. That is one of the best because everyone is excited and everyone from the community is coming to support these kids to help them go on with their next projects.”

Events go from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days with some days starting at 10 a.m. and others earlier. The full schedule can be found at the fairground’s website at washingtonfair. org.

The neighboring Pennsylvania Trolley Museum invites visitors to park at its facilities at 2800 N. Main St., 1 Electric Way and 1 Museum Road and take a scenic trolley ride to the fair.

From 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., the trolleys will depart every 10 to 15 minutes. Tickets are $5 per person round trip with children 2 and younger riding free, and the tickets are good for multiple trips per day. Weekly passes at $25 per person are available and are good for all eight days of the fair, but do not include fair admission.

Pa. Trolley Museum Executive Director/CEO Jeanine DeBor said the trolley to the fair is a 114-year tradition with a newly restored trolley called the Terrible Trolley.

“If you love riding trolleys, that’s the best time to come to the fair,” DeBor said. “It’s a big family reunion for our volunteers; they look forward to this week every year. It’s going to be a very happy atmosphere with eight trolleys running. Look out for that beautiful black and gold trolley that pays homage to the super Steelers of the ’70s, and come see us at the museum.”

The $5 park-and-ride ticket will include same day admission to the museum, saving $15, and sponsored by Coen Markets.

The fair has various sponsorships this year, including EQT Foundation, Washington Auto Mall, CNX Foundation, Dollar Bank, Diversified Energy and more, which have helped fund special events and initiatives planned for this year’s fair and upcoming capital improvements at the Fairgrounds.

“The community comes together, we support one another, we get this fair ready to go so Washington County can showcase the best of the best of what we can produce over the year as we prepare for this fair,” Richards said. “It is not possible without the community of volunteers, and what helps us even more is our sponsors.”

Renovations will be at Hall No. 3, restrooms, horse barns, exterior painting of the 4-H horse barn, paving, the completion of the perimeter fence on Arden Road, fencing for the horse arena and new fencing along the racetrack. These all started five years ago, according to Hunnell.

“All of that was funding from EQT that really started the changes on the fairground,” Hunnell said. “It makes it better and improves not only for us, but for future generations as well. Most of the horse barns are all painted, renovated inside as well as cleaning up all the stalls for the fair.”

The upgrades are being made as part of an overall facilities improvement master plan that jointly was developed by the Washington County Fair Board and the county. There were also internet improvements so people can make calls and more.

Future capital improvements include renovations to Hall No. 1, an equestrian center and a historic barn. The barn is around $1 million, and the fair cannot support that, according to Hunnell, and there may still be a form of a structure there.

“(The equestrian center) RFP is currently being worked on to go out. It was delayed because we had to redo for the entire fairgrounds, the DEP certifications,” Hunnell said. “The county actually hired outside consultants to do the DEP certifications for the fairgrounds. I understand that it is now completed.”

Throughout the rest of the year, besides planning for the next year’s fair the whole time, the fairgrounds hosts 365 events and rentals, generating an additional 74,000 visitors. The biggest weekend besides the fair is the two-week Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts Christmas Festival — bringing in nearly 15,000 visitors.

Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi said the fair is a regional and interstate event that supports kids in agriculture as well as local farms.

“It is so important for tourism to bring people in and see what’s going on,” Maggi said. “A lot of people don’t realize we have things going on, and agriculture blends perfectly. This (fair is) so important to Washington County, and it’s important to do as much as we can with the money that we have to keep some of these buildings. It’s going to be a great week, and I hope we have great weather.”

More information about the fair can be found at www. washingtonfair.org or the fair office at 724-225-7718. Daily admission is $15, including carnival rides, and parking is free.