The Pearl River County Fair and Rodeo returns this year featuring similar entertainment, but the schedule has been tailored to be more convenient to attendees. Also, there will be certain times throughout the fair in which people can get large discounts on carnival ride tickets.
Starting Aug. 26 at the Pearl River County fairgrounds, the fair will kick off with a horse show at 10 a.m. Registration to enter a horse will be held prior to the event from 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Aug. 31 is preschool and kindergarten day at the fair.
The Pearl River County Fair will start Saturday, Aug. 26 and end Tuesday, Sept. 5.
To help travelers attend some of the more popular events, Dr. Eddie Smith, fair manager, said he shifted the schedule to allow more families to attend their favorite exhibits.
One of the major changes involved moving field day from Friday to Saturday, Sept. 2 starting at 1 p.m.
“Some children might not be able to get out of school Friday and make it to the fair grounds in time to register for the field day events,” Smith said, adding that registration begins at 12:30 p.m. “We want to accommodate everyone we can and make sure everyone has a great time.”
Also, the popular pet show was rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1.
Anyone wanting to open an adult or youth exhibit can do so Tuesday, Aug. 29 from 8 a.m. to noon. The next day, judging of the entire adult and youth division exhibits, displays and booths will occur. During the judging process, the fair grounds building will be closed, but will reopen at 2 p.m. for Senior Citizen and Community Homes Day.
Wednesday serves as the first armband night for carnival rides. Attendees who purchase an armband, which costs $17, can ride all of the carnival rides from 6 to 10 p.m. as many times as they wish.
The carnival will be available from Tuesday through Saturday night, Smith said. Ticket prices are $1.25 per ticket and $20 for a family pack of 20 tickets. Each ride costs an estimated 2-4 tickets.
The Fair Days in the Pearl PCA Rodeo is another crowd favorite, including everything a typical rodeo would have, such as bull riding, roping and more, Smith said.
“Everyone enjoys the rodeo. It’s just such an entertaining event that people of all ages can have fun attending,” Smith said.
The rodeo will take place at the fairgrounds arena in Poplarville, at 8 p.m. Sept. 1 and Sept. 2. Gates open at 4 p.m. Tickets to attend the rodeo cost $10 per adult and $5 for kids ages 6-12. Children 5-years-old and younger can enter for free with an adult.
For more information on the rodeo, contact Cindy Lee at 601-403-2302. To view the complete fair and rodeo schedule, visit the Pearl River County Fair and Rodeo Facebook page.