Sara Nickoles, Intern
The fair will take place from Thursday to Saturday.
(July 25, 2019) The annual Great Pocomoke Fair begins today, Thursday, and run through Saturday on Broad Street, featuring events for the entire family.
Thursday the fair opens at 5 p.m. and kicks off with poultry and rabbit judging in the livestock barn. The main events of the night, the Little Miss and Junior Miss pageants, will take place on the grandstand stage at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m, respectively.
“Every year there is usually a big crowd for the Little and Junior Miss pageants on Thursday night and also one for the Friday night hobby horse racing too,” John Smith, president of the fair committee, said.
The Little Miss pageant includes girls ages 5-7 years old while the Junior Miss pageant is for girls ages 11-13 years old who reside in Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico, or Accomack counties.
Registration for this year’s pageant and future fairs is available at www.pocomokefairpageants.com.
The fair also includes indoor exhibits.
“A lot of families like the exhibits inside which usually include fruits, vegetables, canned vegetables, sewing, photography and other things like that,” Smith said.
On Friday, the fairgrounds open once again at 5 p.m. and events begin with hog judging in the livestock barn.
A favorite from previous years, the Hobby Horse races will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the number of heats dependent on the amount of participants. There will be a $25 fee to rent a horse in the race.
During the races there will also be dairy cow and beef cattle judging in the livestock barn at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m, respectively.
Also included in the Friday night festivities is a performance by the Cup O’Joe band at 7:30 p.m. on the grandstand stage.
Saturday, the final day of the fair, opens earlier at 10 a.m. with events such as pygmy goats, sheep, dairy goats and meat goats judging until 12:30 p.m in the livestock barn.
At the grandstand and racetrack there will be harness racing from 12:30-4 p.m. with the cake and pie auction held during the 10 races.
If the horse manes and plethora of sweets do not have the attention of the youngest in the family, there will also be activities for children beginning at 1 p.m. A coloring contest, chicken scratch game and other activities will be available for children to choose from.
Beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday is registration for the antique/classic tractor pull, which will start at 5 p.m. at the grandstand and infield for the 12th year.
Entry forms can be found online on the fair website and the cost will be $20 per hook.
During the tractor pull, there will be a performance by Dirt Road Outlaws beginning at 6 p.m. on the grandstand stage.
“The whole thing brings us back to what has been done on the shore. There’s a lot of canning as people used to can their own food and sewing as women used to make all their own clothes,” Smith said. “It is back to the basics of what was in this area 30 to 50 years ago.”
There is no cost to attend the fair.
For more information, visit the fair website at www.thegreatpocomokefair.org, email info@thegreatpocomokefair.org, or call 410-957-4486.