The Southwest Washington Fair theme for 2023 is “Bee Friendly! Bee at the Fair!”
Because craft books and the internet are stocked full of bee-themed craft patterns, exhibitors are digging this year’s theme, said home arts department assistant superintendent Jessie Erickson.
“It’s a concrete concept,” Erickson said. “And people like it anyway. Bees and honey and everything are super popular right now.”
Keeping with the theme, the Lewis County Beekeepers Association will have a display inside the floral building during this year’s fair, which is set for Aug. 15-20. The gates open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15. The fairgrounds close each night at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Though, bees aside, Pat Slusher Junior, who works at the Southwest Washington Fair office, said the main draw for this year’s fair is sure to be a grand slate of events at the Grandstands Arena.
While the fair has long hosted the “Lewis County Rodeo,” last year saw its first-ever rodeo that was sanctioned by the Northwest Professional Rodeo Association. This year, fair organizers are readying for round two, then round three. On Wednesday and Thursday, at 6 p.m. both nights in the Grandstands Arena, cowboys and cowgirls will travel across towns, states and even countries for the Lewis County Rodeo.
The rodeos will be individually-standing competitions with belt buckle prizes so attendees get a full show whether they visit one night or both. Both days will feature professionals from the area and abroad for bareback riding, tie down and breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, and, of course, bull riding. For the kids, there will be mutton busting both nights.
For those who won’t make it into the grandstands, the fair will feature “Wool Busters” mutton busting on the north end of the fairgrounds every night at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. Competing and viewing is free with admission to the fair.
Special tickets are needed to enter for Grandstands events, including the rodeo, monster truck shows and demolition derby. Box seats are also available online and through the fair office.
Two days of bucking bulls and broncos isn’t the only crazy show set for the Grandstands this year. Monster trucks are coming back to the Southwest Washington Fair for the first time in either 20 or 21 years, said Slusher.
At 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday in the Grandstands Arena, the Monster Truck Nitro Tour will kick up the dust — or mud, depending on the weather. Both the afternoon and evening shows will also feature lawnmower races.
“They do jumps and they roll those things and they crush things,” Slusher said. “It’s big toys for big boys and little boys. And they’re loud. They’re very loud.”
Finally, four days of Grandstands insanity will wrap up with a demolition derby on Sunday, Aug. 20, the final day of the Southwest Washington Fair.
The derby will kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Last year, when the fair had scheduled derbies for both Tuesday and Sunday nights, there weren’t enough participants signed up for the second night to allow the event to run, according to fair organizers.
Slusher doesn’t expect that problem for the 2023 fair, because Centralia’s Summerfest demolition derby saw great turnout, he said, and because there will be just one derby this year.
Sunday’s derby will bring back the fair’s “Jump Your Junk” competition and the youth race for kids ages 12 to 15.
Entertainment free with admission
Events outside of the Grandstands are sure to provide fairgoers a hefty amount of excitement, too — and, all are free with admission to the fair. Hell’s Belles, a “world-famous, all-female AC/DC tribute band,” according to their trademark, will headline this year’s Saloon Stage musical performances at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
If any band can compete with the noise of Saturday’s monster truck shows, that would be Hell’s Belles.
“They’re wild,” Slusher said. “Off stage, they are the calmest, most pleasant young ladies. On stage, they’re wild. And they have a following. And their music has a following, of course.”
Back by popular demand, Slusher said, The Kingsmen will also perform on the Saloon Stage at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Known for Washington state’s Legislature-approved state rock song, “Louie Louie,” Slusher said the band is the most requested act for the Southwest Washington Fair, several years running.
As of Saturday, the fair has already seen 4,339 entries from 476 exhibitors, which surpasses submissions from last year. Entries will continue to roll in throughout the next few weeks.
Besides displays of the best crafts, livestock, art and food in Lewis County, attendees can also see unicycling comedy juggler Mark Wilder four times a day on the Midway at random intervals, the Parrott Ambassadors at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. each day inside the Exposition Hall and, on Thursday through Sunday at noon, 3 and 6 p.m. in the field behind the fair office: All-Alaskan Racing Pigs.
Learn more about this year’s fair at https://southwestwashingtonfair.org, and look for a full schedule of events in a special section of an upcoming edition of The Chronicle.
