Luzerne County Pennsylvania Fair Festival
Five September days in the Back Mountain country bring the Luzerne County Fair to life on a fairgrounds that carries a Dallas mailing address while sitting on township ground. It is a county agricultural fair through and through: livestock in the show rings, home arts under cover, a midway, ground acts, and a main stage carrying the week from opening night to the closing Sunday. Its own name is simply the Luzerne County Fair; the extra word in the queue title is generic wording, not part of the published name.
About the Fair
The Luzerne County Fair is the annual agricultural fair of Luzerne County, held for five days each September in the Back Mountain area. The fair’s own 2026 homepage framed that edition around its own words “America 250 — Freedom. Family. and PA Fairs”, and listed the competitive heart: livestock and 4-H and open judging, arts-and-crafts and home exhibits, and premium competitions in baking, sewing, scarecrows, pumpkin carving, photography, fishing, arts and crafts. Around that core sit midway rides, ground acts and main-stage music. The 2025 brochure describes the same shape.
The fair’s identity is agricultural first. Judged exhibits cover sewing, painting, woodworking, photography, canning, quilting, produce, flowers and herbs, while the barns and show rings carry poultry, rabbits, cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, dairy cattle and horses, many entered by school-age 4-H and FFA exhibitors. That exhibitor base is the fair’s backbone.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Event | Luzerne County Fair, the annual agricultural fair of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania |
| Host area | Route 118 in the Back Mountain area, with a Dallas postal address and grounds in Lehman Township |
| County seat | Wilkes-Barre, which does not host the fair |
| Grounds address | 3605 State Route 118, Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612, as published by the fair itself |
| Organiser | Dallas Area Fall Fair, Inc. — premium-guide imprint: Dallas Area Fall Fair, Inc. T/A Luzerne County Fair |
| Documented editions | September 3–7, 2025; September 9–13, 2026; September 8–12, 2027 announced |
| Admission | Priced by day and year; see the planning section for the fenced 2025 and 2026 ladders |
| Parking | Bundled into admission in every layer that addresses it; no standalone visitor fee published |
| Camping | Exhibitor camping exists under premium-guide rules; no camper rate is published |
History
The fair’s own 2025 brochure states the founding plainly: “The Luzerne County Fair was established in 1962”, with the theme line “Cultivating Future Generations Since 1962”. It is not the organiser’s incorporation date, and the two must not be run together: the fair’s website text, quoted in local reportage in 2014, states that the Dallas Area Fall Fair, Inc. was “Incorporated in 1980” — not a second founding date.
Edition billings are billing only: local reportage billed a “52nd annual” fair in 2014 and a “54th annual” fair in 2016, a regional tourism guide billed a “64th Annual” fair in 2026, and the fair’s own premium guides carry imprint numbers Issue No. 62 in June 2024 and Issue No. 63 in June 2025. None of those numbers may be used to back-calculate a founding year.
For a useful comparison, see the Lehigh County Pennsylvania Great Allentown Fair Festival for another county festival.
One gap forbids any claim of an unbroken history: the fair took a year off at the start of the pandemic and returned in 2021, in local reportage’s words, “After taking a year off during the beginnings of the pandemic, the fair is back this year”. There was no 2020 edition in that layer.
The older county history must be kept firmly apart from this fair. A published history of Luzerne County documents 19th-century agricultural society fairs at Wyoming borough — a society organised in 1810 at Wilkes-Barre, an 1851 formation that coal speculation ended, and a society fair held in October 1858 near Wyoming, with grounds later plotted into borough lots and the association dissolved. Those are predecessor-era, different-grounds events, and the history itself closes by noting that the Dallas association was the county’s then-only fair representative. None of their dates, officers or grounds belong to the present fair, which must not be dated to 1810, 1851 or 1858. The neighbouring county’s fair at Meshoppen is a different event.
What to Expect
The competitive fair at the centre
Expect a working agricultural fair, not a festival that borrows the word. The premium competitions are the spine of the week: baking, sewing, scarecrows, pumpkin carving, photography, fishing, arts and crafts, alongside the livestock and home departments. Exhibitors enter in advance and judging runs through the week, so early visitors catch judging and quieter halls.
Ground acts and the main stage
The fair pairs its competitive programme with ground acts and main-stage music. The 2026 edition’s own homepage billed Rock-N-Circus, a rock-and-roll circus stunt show, Wild Beal’s Pig Racing Speedway Show, and Aim High Canine frisbee and agility dogs — acts belonging to 2026 only. The 2025 brochure’s bill, belonging to 2025 only, ran from an opening ceremony through a Saturday tribute night and fireworks to a closing Sunday of family contests.
A five-day September rhythm
The fair runs Wednesday through Sunday in early to mid September: Wednesday is opening day, Thursday carries the senior citizens’ day in both documented years, the weekend brings the heaviest crowds and the closing programme, and Sunday is the last chance for the halls and family contests.
Planning Your Visit
Getting there and the address puzzle
The address needs explanation, because the fair’s own layers do not collapse into one simple statement. The fair-published address is 3605 State Route 118, Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612, as printed in the fair’s own site footer, while fair-side local reportage from 2014 and 2016 places the fair “on Route 118, Lehman Township”. Put plainly, the grounds sit in Lehman Township with a Dallas postal address. The fair’s own 2025 brochure gives directions: Exit 170B off Interstate 81, Route 309 North to Route 118, approximately 10 miles to the grounds. The premium guide imprint’s post office box form is mailing-only, never the grounds address, and a conflicting Dallas street address on a different route, carried in a 2023 television transcript, is quarantined as an error and is not printed here.
Admission, fenced by year
Admission is priced by day, and the two documented years must not be merged. In 2025, the fair’s own brochure set Wednesday Opening Day at eight dollars for all ages; Friday, September 5, Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7 at ten dollars for all ages; children under 36 inches free throughout; Thursday, September 4 Senior Citizen’s Day at five dollars for ages 62 and over; Sunday First Responders and Veteran Appreciation saving two dollars per family member with proper agency identification; and a Food Bank saving of two dollars for bringing a non-perishable food item. In 2026, the regional tourism guide — a regional-tourism layer — set ten dollars for all ages Wednesday through Sunday, with rides, entertainment, live music and parking included; Wednesday advance tickets online only at eight dollars against a ten-dollar gate price; Thursday Senior Citizens Day at five dollars for ages 62 and over; and Friday First Responders and Veteran Appreciation Day at two dollars off per family member with proper agency identification.
Note the appreciation day: Sunday in the 2025 brochure, Friday in the 2026 guide — exactly why the two years must not be blended into one ladder. One paid extra belongs to 2025 alone: the brochure’s new Safari Farm Petting Zoo Kangaroo Experience at fifteen dollars, an add-on, not gate admission. No 2027 price is published, so 2027 admission is unverified.
Parking
No separate visitor parking charge is published in any fair-side layer fetched; parking is bundled into admission in every layer that addresses it. A 2021 preview, a 2022 calendar and the 2026 guide all describe admission as including parking. The fair’s own 2024 premium guide regulates parking only operationally, barring parking in front of the small animal barn or alongside the horse ring. A standalone parking fee is unverified and must not be invented.
Camping
Camping exists in the fair’s record only in exhibitor form and without a published rate. The premium guide barn rules state that campers and trailers must park where department chairpersons designate, based on space availability; that a fee applies for campers requiring electricity and water, payable at the Fair Office, where permits are available; and that no youth under 21 may stay overnight without parental supervision and camping permission. The fee amount, hookup details beyond electricity and water, reservation rules and any public camping offer are all unverified. No camper rate may be promised.
A Sample Day at the Fair
Take the Saturday of the 2025 edition as the shape of a full day. Arrive by the brochure’s directions and start in the exhibit halls while crowds are thin. Midday belongs to the livestock areas and the Saturday auction and tractor parade. Afternoon is for the midway and ground acts, evening for the main stage: the 2025 Saturday bill closed with a Fleetwood Mac tribute act and fireworks at half past nine, with a Sunday rain date at half past eight. That day is 2025’s programme, not a promise for any other year; the shape carries forward, the names do not.
How This Fair Compares
The nearest comparison is the neighbouring county’s fair at Meshoppen, useful precisely because the two must not be confused: the Wyoming County Fair is a different county’s fair, and nothing transfers between the two — not dates, not prices, not programme. Within Luzerne County, the older Wyoming borough society fairs are history, not earlier editions, and the fairgrounds’ year-round storage and rental business is grounds activity, not extra fair editions. The fair’s scale is modest and local: a five-day county fair built on exhibitors from its own townships, and that local scale is the point.
Checklist
- Check the next edition’s programme before travelling: acts and prices change annually.
- Navigate by 3605 State Route 118, Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612, remembering the grounds sit in Lehman Township.
- Do not use the post office box form for navigation: it is mailing-only.
- Bring agency identification for any discount; every discount requires it or an age threshold.
- Bring a non-perishable food item only if the food bank saving is confirmed for the edition you attend; it is documented for 2025 only.
- Do not plan around a camper rate: none is published.
- Remember there was no 2020 edition: the fair took that year off and returned in 2021.
Beyond the Fairgrounds
The Back Mountain area rewards a longer stay. The fairgrounds sit on Route 118 between the borough of Dallas and the townships around it, in lake and ridge country, and the drive in along Route 118 is part of the visit. Wilkes-Barre, the county seat, lies to the south-east and is a separate trip, not part of the fair’s footprint: the seat does not host the fair, and no fair visit needs to pass through it. Visitors staying over should look to Dallas and Back Mountain lodging, since the fair publishes no overnight offer.
Why the Fair Matters
A county fair like this one matters because it is where a county shows its work to itself. The premium guides, published annually by the Dallas Area Fall Fair, Inc., are not souvenir booklets but working documents: entry rules, judging schedules, department lists and barn rules, produced year after year by a membership drawn from area service clubs, the county extension programme, band sponsors, a soccer club and junior fair board members. That composition, printed in the 2025 premium guide, explains the fair’s character: a community organisation running a community event, the extension programme a member programme within it, never the organiser. A county fair is a family occasion and a civic one at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly is the Luzerne County Fair held?
The fair-published address is 3605 State Route 118, Dallas, Pennsylvania 18612, and fair-side local reportage places the grounds on Route 118 in Lehman Township. Dallas is the postal address; Lehman Township is the municipality. The premium guide imprint’s post office box form is mailing-only.
What does admission cost?
Admission is priced by day and differs by year. The 2025 brochure set opening day at eight dollars for all ages, most other days at ten dollars, children under 36 inches free, seniors 62 and over at five dollars on Thursday, with two-dollar appreciation and food bank savings. The 2026 regional tourism guide set ten dollars for all ages across the week with rides, entertainment, live music and parking included, an eight-dollar Wednesday advance ticket, the same five-dollar senior Thursday, but the appreciation day moved to Friday. No 2027 price is published, so 2027 admission is unverified.
Is parking charged separately?
No separate visitor parking charge is published in any fair-side layer fetched; parking is bundled into admission in every layer that addresses it, from a 2021 preview through a 2022 calendar to the 2026 regional guide. The premium guide regulates parking only operationally, barring parking in front of the small animal barn or alongside the horse ring. A standalone fee is unverified and should not be assumed.
Can visitors camp at the fairgrounds?
No public camping offer is published and no camper rate exists in the fair-side record. The premium guide documents exhibitor camping only: campers and trailers park where department chairpersons designate, a fee applies for electricity and water campers, permits are available at the Fair Office, and anyone under 21 staying overnight needs parental supervision and camping permission. The fee amount, hookup details beyond electricity and water, and reservation rules are unverified, so no camping booking should be planned on this record.
What to Expect From the Next Luzerne County Pennsylvania Fair Festival
How often is Luzerne County Pennsylvania Fair Festival held?
The fair is an annual event, held once each year for five days in September, on the documented 2025 and 2026 editions and the announced 2027 edition. The one documented recent break was 2020, when the fair took a year off at the start of the pandemic and returned in 2021.
When is the next Luzerne County Pennsylvania Fair Festival?
The next edition announced on the fair’s own homepage is September 8 through September 12, 2027, published as save-the-dates after the completed 2026 fair. That is a forward announcement only: no 2027 programme and no 2027 admission price is published, so both should be checked when they appear.
Will the dates change?
The September rhythm has held across the documented editions: 2025 ran September 3 through September 7, 2026 ran September 9 through September 13, and the announced 2027 fair is set for September 8 through September 12. Exact dates move within September from year to year, so the announced span should always be confirmed against the fair’s own publications before travelling.
Five September days on Route 118, in a township with a Dallas address, run by a local nonprofit and judged by its own neighbours: that is the Luzerne County Fair, established by its own statement in 1962.
