For the 2016 installment of the Whidbey Island Fair, fair organizers added some new faces for entertainment while staying true to what the fair is all about: farming, rides, games, music and the annual parade.
The regular favorites will once again be a feature of the four day frenzy, as visitors will be able to see the best farm creatures the area has to offer, brush up on their crafting skills and enjoy a range of games as well as performances on the Midway Stage. The parade will give folks a chance to see familiar faces they perhaps haven’t seen all year.
Thursday at noon on the Midway Stage will be the site of the fair’s opening ceremony.
The Whidbey Island Fair parade, always a classic American spectacle, will kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday in downtown Langley before the crowd heads down the seaside Camano Avenue toward the fairgrounds.
Randy and Myrna Bradley, who were pivotal in the establishment of Community Park, Knight Riders 4-H Club and other South Whidbey favorites, will be honored as this year’s parade grand marshals. The fair’s website says the parade will hit the Midway Stage around 10:15 a.m. during the fair.
Many bands and entertainers will don the stage throughout the fair, a variety that is more diverse than past years, according to fair secretary Megan Ollis-Williams. This is Ollis-Williams’ first year on the entertainment committee.
“I’m here to shake it up a bit and bring something new this year,” Ollis-Williams said. “It’s not just a country fair, we’re trying to have a bit of everything in terms of entertainment.”
Headlining the entertainment program is a familiar face in Danny Vernon, Whidbey’s own Elvis Presley, who will bring his Illusions of Elvis performance to the Midway stage at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Fair manager Carol Coble says Vernon “basically is Elvis,” and that it’s hard to differentiate between the two.
Anyone who attended this year’s Celebrate America festivities will be familiar with Hair Nation, a tribute band to the ’80s hair metal scene, who will rock the Midway stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
They will be followed by top 40 hits band Jersey Street, who will get the crowd going with some of their favorite classic songs and contemporary tunes. Fans of retro bands of the ’60s and ’70s will be in for a treat on Thursday evening, as garage rockers PETE the Band and Beatles cover band British Export will strut their stuff on the Midway stage. PETE the Band go on at 6:15 p.m. while British Export follows up at 8 p.m.
Country music fans will also be able to watch numerous country acts perform, a regular feature of the fair. The Olson Bros Band based out of Olympia will play at the fair for the first time at 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Midway Stage. Saturday night will have a country feel when former police officer and bull rider Chris Ward will perform before Washington country star Jeremy McComb finishes the night’s music at the Midway Stage. Chris Ward performs at 6 p.m. and Jeremy McComb will play at 8 p.m.
The regular variety of livestock shows hosted by 4-H will be held daily at various arenas such as the horse arena, livestock arena and dog arena. Animals to be featured include chickens, goats, horses, swine, sheep, rabbits, alpaca, dogs and more. Highlights include the 4-H milking contest at 10 a.m. on Friday at the goat arena, the 4-H horse Western games at 2 p.m. on Friday at the horse arena and the 4-H most beautiful animal contest at noon on Sunday at the horse arena.
A highlight for the new additions, according to Coble, is the Crazy Eights show that will be held twice daily. The show is a high speed spectacle for animal lovers, as eight Shetland ponies lead a carriage around arenas at top speed.
“The Crazy Eights are new to the fair this year; it’s a really big deal that they’re coming,” Coble said.
The entertainment lineup is more than musical performances and animal shows. Daily Lego contests will take place at the Fiddle Faddle Farm, hands-on robotics classes will be a regular feature and the duct tape contest, a first at last year’s fair, will return for a second go.
Fair organizers have also added a current pop culture craze as an aspect to the fair as a way to bring the kids out of their rooms — a Pokemon GO contest of sorts. Jumping on the Pokemon GO bandwagon, a game that has made news headlines worldwide, organizers have decided to hand out free rides passes to the Pokemon GO players that hold the top spot every day at the fair. There are four spots at the fairgrounds, so four players will get free rides passes for the day.
The free pass is a $24 ticket voucher.
A fair tradition and favorite, the Bunyon Busters Log Show, will take the Midway Stage at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the log arena. For Ollis-Williams, the log show perfectly sums up a Pacific Northwest fair with the contest’s ode to the area’s timber culture.
“There are so many talented people doing it, and it doesn’t get the recognition it needs,” Ollis-Williams said. “It’s very northwest, and an iconic part to the fair.”
