The Ferris wheel won’t be the only attraction competing for attention at McDonald Farm this November when the Little Debbie Hamilton County Fair returns for its fourth iteration.
There will be bucking bulls and racing pigs, lumberjacks and country music, farm animals and fireworks. The midway will be nearly twice the size it was last year.
Food vendors will be serving corn dogs, funnel cakes, turkey legs and sausage and peppers, while more than 20 craft vendors offer an early start on Christmas shopping.
And all of it will take place on a historic farm surrounded by mountains and, organizers hope, the colors and cool air of late autumn.
The event returns to McDonald Farm Nov. 6-8 for three days packed with attractions beyond the concerts and carnival rides.
The fair, now in its fourth year at McDonald Farm, is expanding its midway with nearly twice as many rides as last year. Among them will be one conspicuous returning favorite: the Ferris wheel.
The wheel appeared at the first fair at McDonald Farm but was absent the next two years – and apparently, people noticed.
“Moms told us, ‘You’d better bring the Ferris wheel back,’” says Karen Shostak, deputy director of Hamilton County Parks and Recreation.
Music and more
The biggest name on this year’s entertainment lineup will take the main stage Saturday night, when East Tennessee native Rodney Atkins performs.
Shostak says Atkins has been among organizers’ top three prospective bookings every year since the fair moved to McDonald Farm, but scheduling conflicts kept getting in the way.
“This year, everything lined up for him to be here,” she says.
His appeal, Shostak says, also fits what organizers look for when booking the fair: performers whose songs people recognize and want to sing along with.
“I’ve had folks from every generation reach out to me and say, ‘Wow, we love him,’” Shostak says. “We’re really happy when that happens because we try to appeal to all ages.”
Atkins’ Saturday performance will be followed by another crowd favorite – fireworks, which are moving from Sunday to Saturday this year at the request of fairgoers.
Local artist Brandon Davis will return as a Saturday opener, while the weekend’s other performers will include Bella Lamb, whom Shostak described as a young Nashville talent to watch.
Sunday will take on a different musical flavor. Former “The Voice” finalist Amber Carrington will open on the main stage for Dove Award-winning faith-based artist David Leonard for what organizers are billing as “Faith on the Farm.”
Beyond the main stage, the fair will bring back its lumberjack shows and pig races, which Shostak calls both “fiercely popular” and “hysterical.”
The weekend will also feature two days of Outlaw Rodeo.
“That rodeo is one of the best in the Southeast,” Shostak says. “It’s unbelievable.”
A true county fair
The animals are another part of the experience, and Shostak has one recommendation in particular for visitors making their way through the fair’s agricultural area: Don’t miss the ducks.
“They’re adorable,” she says.
The fair’s agricultural area will include Farmer for a Day and opportunities to interact with animals and the people who raise them. For some children, Shostak says, the experience could be their first close encounter with farm animals or with the people who make their living in agriculture.
“They might gain a new respect for farmland or discover an interest in agriculture,” she says.
McDonald Farm makes that connection difficult to miss. Rather than transforming a collection of buildings and pavement into something resembling a farm, organizers are staging the fair on the real thing – an iconic property that Shostak says performers and rodeo participants have praised as one of their favorite venues.
The fair will remain there even as a portion of the 2,100-acre McDonald Farm property is slated to become a state park. Shostak says the 100 acres used for the fair venue will remain intact.
“I hope it outlives us all,” she says. “I can’t think of a more perfect setting for a family-friendly, community event than a farm.”
Fair food and more
No county fair would be complete without the kind of food people generally don’t pretend they came to eat for nutritional reasons.
“Food is the next form of entertainment after what’s happening on stage,” Shostak says.
Fair staples such as corn dogs and funnel cakes will return alongside tacos, burgers, turkey legs, sausage and peppers and other offerings, with an emphasis on local vendors.
Among them will be the Hanner family, longtime Chattanooga festival vendors whose orange trailer will be the place to find a turkey leg.
As for Shostak, her priorities are simpler.
“I’m a corn dog girl,” she says.
Visitors might also want to leave room in the budget for something they can’t eat. The craft area has expanded this year to more than 20 vendors offering jewelry, handmade goods and other items that Shostak says could provide an opportunity to get an early start on Christmas shopping.
“Bring some money,” she says.
But organizers have tried to ensure visitors won’t have to keep reaching for their wallets to experience the attractions themselves.
Advance three-day admission is $16 for adults and $14 for ages 11-17, while children 10 and younger are admitted free. Adult three-day admission rises to $19 at the gate. Daily admission is $12 for adults and $10 for ages 11-17, with discounted daily admission also available to veterans, military members, first responders and teachers with identification.
Once inside, the concerts, midway rides, rodeo, lumberjack shows, pig races and other entertainment are included with admission.
Shostak says sponsorships and the county’s investment in the event help make those prices possible.
The approach appears to have found an audience.
Shostak says the Hamilton County Fair drew 6,000 people over three days when it was held at Chester Frost Park. Attendance at McDonald Farm topped 50,000 last year. Organizers anticipate another 40,000 to 45,000 people this year, depending, as always, on the weather.
For Shostak, that growth reflects an effort to build something befitting Tennessee’s fourth-largest county – a gathering intended to feel like Hamilton County’s fair rather than simply another festival on the calendar.
“This is your Hamilton County Fair,” she says. “Every county deserves a gathering that brings the whole community together.”
There is at least one more surprise organizers aren’t revealing yet.
Shostak says something special is planned for the opening ceremonies, but when pressed for even a hint, she wouldn’t budge.
“A hint would give it away in this day and age,” she says.
For everything else, Shostak’s vision is easier to describe.
She grew up in South Florida, where the local fair lasted a month, then spent nearly two decades helping put on Riverbend. Both experiences, she says, helped inform the Hamilton County Fair as it exists today.
“I built this event as my dream fair for families,” Shostak says. “I’m not exaggerating.”
The idea was to take the county’s vision, combine it with what the community said it wanted and roll it all into one sprawling November weekend.
“Very local, very fun,” Shostak says. “A place to make sweet memories.”