.jpg)
Auditions for the Southwest Washington Fair’s talent show are set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10, on the South Stage at the fairgrounds.
The auditions are held only to ensure that the acts are family friendly. No one gets eliminated from the show. The competition is free for anyone age 6 and over.
The talent show will be held at noon Sunday, Aug. 22, with three separate age brackets for performers: “kids” ages 6 to 12, “teens” ages 13 to 19 and “adults” age 20 and over.
Applications can be submitted online at southwestwashingtonfair.org/events/contests or in the fair office at 1930 S. Gold St.
The event is sponsored by TwinStar Credit Union. Along with the chance to win cash prizes totaling $500 split between the brackets, talent show entrants will receive free fair admission and parking on Sunday, Aug. 22. One parent or chaperone of youth entrants will also receive free admission that day.
“It’s a competition but it's a very friendly competition,” said organizer Pat Slusher Jr. “It’s just nice for people to have the opportunity to go out there and do it. The audience loves it … Anything that’s a talent is welcome.”
Slusher has a hand in organizing nearly every fair event. He told The Chronicle the talent show is a favorite. Exhibits come and go, but the talent show has been around for as long as he can remember. The wide range of local talent never fails to amaze, Slusher said, and he called himself especially fond of the event because he is “an old showbiz ham.”
Past performances have included a keyboard player who Slusher said played “like a wizard,” gospel singers, magic shows, dances, cloggers and tap dancers.
Overall, Slusher said the performances are typically pretty mainstream, noting children enjoy singing or dancing to their favorite popular songs. But anyone with any talent is welcome, so long as it is fair appropriate. There has not yet been a performer who juggles.
“I never tell anyone to go into show business, but I thought some of them could turn pro,” Slusher said of past performers.
Tuesday is the soft deadline for admittance into the talent show. However, if positions are not filled, the fair office will continue to receive applicants until Aug. 22 as long as entrants are willing to do their performance in the fair office prior to the show.
The wide range of talents and ages of performers at past talent shows is an example of the inclusion and family friendly fun fair organizers were hoping to channel with the 2021 theme “Let’s All Go To The Fair.”
Slusher added: “And let’s all participate in the fair, which is just as important.”
For more information, call the fair office at 360-740-1495 or visit southwestwashingtonfair.org/events/contests.
