Van Wert County Ohio Fair Festival
Late summer in Van Wert smells of sawdust, diesel, kettle corn and rain on warm asphalt. For one long week the fairgrounds on South Washington Street hold the whole county at once. The Van Wert County Fair is a working agricultural fair first, running from late August into September.
A Society Fair on Its Own Grounds
The Van Wert County Fair belongs to the Van Wert County Agricultural Society, a county agricultural society corporation formed under Chapter 1711 of the Ohio Revised Code. The Ohio Auditor’s reports are explicit that Van Wert County is not financially accountable for the Society. Directors serve staggered three-year terms, elected by resident members, and the board’s size stands in its layers, fifteen directors through fiscal 2021 and eighteen directors in the fiscal 2023 layer.
The fair’s working subdivisions appear in their own layers and are never the organiser. FairEntry’s 2026 listings carry the junior and senior machinery as separate entries, and the Junior Fair Board and Junior Livestock Sale Committee appear in the Auditor’s notes as machinery.
Van Wert is both the county seat and the fair town. The courthouse record places the courthouse on East Main Street in the county seat of Van Wert, and the fair’s own site, books and state schedules all place the fair at Van Wert. The courthouse record adds that the county was named for Isaac Van Wart, a soldier during the American Revolution and one of the captors of the British spy John André. Willshire, the county’s first seat before Van Wert was made the seat in 1838, hosts no part of the current fair.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Van Wert County Fair |
| Location | Van Wert County Fairgrounds, 1055 South Washington Street, Van Wert, Ohio |
| Organiser | Van Wert County Agricultural Society |
| Season | Late August into September, a Tuesday to Monday week |
| 2026 span | Tuesday, September 1 to Monday, September 7, 2026 |
| Daily gate | Ten dollars, with twelve and under free |
| Season ticket | Twenty-eight dollars for the duration of the fair |
| Membership | Thirty dollars, including daily gate admission and, for county residents, the vote |
| Harness racing | Two cards in 2026, opening Tuesday evening and closing Monday at noon |
| Midway operator | Jessop Amusements, Incorporated |
| Fair-week camping | Documented book rates only, one hundred eighty-five dollars for 2023 and two hundred dollars for 2024 and 2025 |
A Founding in the State Record, Billings in the Books
The history of this fair has to be told in layers, because the layers do not reconcile into one clean chronology. The Ohio Auditor records the Society as founded in 1856 to operate an annual agricultural fair, in every report layer fetched from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2023. That year is the Society’s founding in the state record only.
For a useful comparison, see the Union County Ohio Fair Festival for another county festival.
The fair books carry their own edition billings, and those billings stand in their layers as billings only. The 2023 Premium Book president’s message welcomes the one hundred sixty-seventh Van Wert County Fair, held August 29 through September 4, 2023. The 2024 Premium Book president’s message welcomes the one hundred sixty-eighth Van Wert County Fair, held August 27 through September 2, 2024. The two billings step year for year in their layers, but they are counted from no stated origin in any layer fetched, and no founding year, first-fair year or continuous-run proof is derived from them.
Two conflicting fair-side layers are recorded unreconciled rather than silently corrected. The fair’s own 2023 event-review post announces the schedule for the one hundred sixty-sixth Van Wert County Fair and in its next sentence dates the one hundred sixty-seventh, running August 29, 2023 through September 4, 2023. The one hundred sixty-seventh stands corroborated by the 2023 book’s president’s message, while the one hundred sixty-sixth stands in that post only. The fair site’s footer still carries the one hundred sixty-eighth billing and the 2024 span on pages fetched in 2025 and 2026 layers.
What to Expect
The Gate, Priced Plainly
The fair’s own admission pages document the ladder, and the 2025 and 2026 pages agree figure for figure. A daily ticket costs ten dollars, a season ticket costs twenty-eight dollars and covers daily gate admission for the duration of the fair, and an individual membership costs thirty dollars. In this fair’s record the membership does include daily gate admission, and county residents get voting rights with it. Membership must be purchased in the Fair Office before its year’s August deadline.
Children twelve and under are admitted free on both pages, and the book’s constitution layer agrees that any person thirteen or older must hold a membership, season or youth ticket or pay single-visit admission. An individual youth ticket costs ten dollars, purchasable only by a parent or grandparent holding an active membership ticket, assigned per individual, good all week, for children ages thirteen to eighteen who are not junior fair exhibitors. No parking price or parking-free statement appears in any current fair-side layer fetched, so parking stands as unverified.
A Sponsored Opening Day and a Lunch Pass That Refunds
Half-price admission applies on the first day only: a five-dollar daily gate on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, with sponsors named in the 2026 layer as Danfoss, Straley Realty and Greenway Bank, and a five-dollar daily gate on Tuesday, August 26, 2025 in its layer. The lunch pass is a refund mechanism, never a discount: pay the daily gate, take a lunch card between eleven and one Tuesday through Friday, leave by two, and the admission is returned.
Harness Racing at Both Ends of the Week
Harness racing is current and documented for 2026, with two cards on the fair’s own grandstand page agreeing with the racing bodies’ own layers and the state schedule’s harness-racing asterisk. The opening card runs Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at half past six in the evening, with Ohio Fair Racing Conference stakes plus the Peony Pace Signature Series, five thousand dollars added, and the Harvest Trot Signature Series, five thousand dollars added, and the Spring Haven Farm Ladies Driving Series, eight hundred dollars, in that card’s layer. The closing card runs Monday, September 7, 2026, at noon, with Ohio Fair Racing Conference stakes, the Van Wert County Horseman’s Memorial and the Van Wert County Fair Director Memorial in that layer.
The fair is a member of the Ohio Fair Racing Conference in its own racing layer, and the entry fees in that layer, one hundred dollars per horse for Ohio Fair Racing Conference and Signature events and thirty-five dollars for overnight events, are horsemen’s money, never visitor prices. No grandstand price is stated for the harness-racing cards in any layer fetched, so racing admission beyond the gate is unverified.
A Grandstand That Changes Every Night
The 2026 grandstand run, in the fair’s own page order and fenced to 2026 entire, gives the week its nightly shape. Wednesday brings the Cheerleading Competition (six, seven and eight dollars). Thursday brings the High School Band Show, revived in that layer and expressly not a competition. Friday brings the Truck and Tractor Pull (ten, twelve and fourteen dollars, pits twenty dollars; the thirty-dollar hook fee is competitor money). Saturday brings the Demolition Derby, at ten, twelve and fourteen dollars with pits at twenty dollars. Sunday brings the ATV Big Air Show, at ten, fifteen and twenty dollars, with no pits tier printed. Monday brings harness racing at noon and the Rough E Rodeo in the evening, at ten, twelve and fourteen dollars with pits at twenty dollars.
The midway layer runs alongside the grandstand all week, with Jessop Amusements rides and games. Advance sale ride bands cost twenty dollars per person for any one four-hour session, and mega bands cost eighty dollars for all ride sessions all week. Once the fair begins, bands are bought from the ride company at twenty-five dollars per session in the 2025 layer and twenty-seven dollars per session in the 2026 layer.
Planning Your Visit
Getting Around the Grounds
The grounds are organised around gates that the fair’s own admission pages number. Gate number one on Balyeat Avenue takes walk-in and drive-in traffic, gate number four on the southeast side is permit only, gate number five on Fox Road to the southwest serves the truck pull, cheerleading, demolition cars, race horses and the infield, gate number six is the racetrack exit on Fox Road, and gate number seven on Balyeat Avenue is exit only. No fair-side acreage was fetched, so no acreage is printed.
Camping Under the Book’s Rules
The 2024 Premium Book’s camping section prints camping rates for the week of the fair at two hundred dollars for 2024 and two hundred dollars for 2025, with 2025 fair camping to be paid by March 1, 2025 or it may be reassigned, and a five-dollar per month late fee added after March 1, 2025. The 2023 Premium Book’s camping section prints one hundred eighty-five dollars for 2023 and two hundred dollars for 2024. No 2026 fair-week camping rate was fetched, so the 2026 rate is unverified, and the twenty-dollar per night camping line on the fair’s own 2024 rentals prices sheet is a grounds-rental rate, never the fair-week rate.
The rules layer from the 2024 book is strict and practical. Persons wishing to camp during the fair must purchase a membership certificate and a camping permit at the Fair Office, which issues a lot assignment needed before parking a camper or trailer. Permits are for campers and trailers only and include no reserved vehicle parking, and the camper or trailer must sit in its assigned lot with the permit displayed in front.
The Junior and Senior Shape of the Week
Beyond the grandstand, the premium books’ schedules give the week its standing shape: junior livestock shows and showsmanship across the barns and arenas, the open and senior horse show, rabbit shows, the Fair Livestock Sale in the Farm Focus Arena, commercial building and open-class exhibits, and the midnight curfew closing in the book layers. That shape belongs to the books’ years, and no other year’s grandstand card was fetched in full, so none is built from 2026’s.
One Closing Monday, Walked in Order
Take the closing Monday, September 7, 2026: barns in the morning through gate number one on Balyeat Avenue, harness racing at noon, the commercial building and open-class exhibits in the afternoon, the midway in the one-to-five session, and the Rough E Rodeo in the evening.
Two Ways to Buy the Week
A daily ticket at ten dollars suits one grandstand night, since the gate covers the grounds and the grandstand tiers are priced separately per event. A season ticket at twenty-eight dollars suits three days or more, since it covers daily gate admission for the duration of the fair. A membership at thirty dollars suits a county resident who wants the vote as well as daily entry.
Checklist
- Buy a season ticket or membership in the Fair Office before its year’s deadline.
- Use the sponsored half-price opening Tuesday, and remember the five-dollar gate is that day’s term only.
- Enter race horses and pull and derby traffic through gate number five on Fox Road.
- Campers should hold at least one membership and buy a camping permit before pulling in.
- Children twelve and under enter free, but any child occupying a grandstand seat pays full price.
Beyond the Fairgrounds
Van Wert itself repays an unhurried hour beyond the fairgrounds, and the town’s courthouse square sits at the centre of that hour. The courthouse record places the Van Wert County Courthouse, designed by Thomas J. Tolan and Son and built in 1876, on East Main Street in the county seat, still housing the Van Wert County Court of Common Pleas.
Why This Fair Matters
The Van Wert County Fair matters because it keeps its machinery visible. The Society’s governance is printed in its books, the gate ladder is printed on its admission pages, the camping rules are printed with their deadlines and late fees, and the racing cards carry their post times and memorial names.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it cost to get into the Van Wert County Fair?
The fair’s own admission pages price a daily ticket at ten dollars, a season ticket at twenty-eight dollars and an individual membership at thirty dollars, with children twelve and under free at the gate. The membership in this fair’s record includes daily gate admission and, for county residents, voting rights.
When is the fair held?
The fair runs from late August into the first week of September, a Tuesday to Monday week in its recent documented spans. The 2026 span runs Tuesday, September 1 to Monday, September 7, 2026, the 2025 span ran Tuesday, August 26 to Monday, September 1, 2025, and the 2024 span ran Tuesday, August 27 to Monday, September 2, 2024.
Is harness racing part of the fair?
Yes, with two cards in 2026: Tuesday, September 1 at half past six in the evening, and Monday, September 7 at noon. No grandstand price is stated for the harness-racing cards, so racing admission beyond the gate is unverified.
Can visitors camp at the fairgrounds during fair week?
Fair-week camping is documented in the fair’s own premium books, priced by year. The documented rates are one hundred eighty-five dollars for 2023 and two hundred dollars for 2024 and, in the 2024 book, for 2025. No 2026 fair-week camping rate was fetched, so the 2026 rate is unverified, and the rentals sheet’s twenty-dollar per night line is a grounds-rental rate.
What to Expect From the Next Van Wert County Ohio Fair Festival
How often is Van Wert County Ohio Fair Festival held?
The Van Wert County Fair is an annual fair, held once a year in the late August into September season, with a Tuesday to Monday week in its recent documented spans.
When is the next Van Wert County Ohio Fair Festival?
No 2027 span was published in any layer fetched, so the next fair’s dates are unverified in this record. The most recent documented span runs Tuesday, September 1 to Monday, September 7, 2026.
Will the dates change?
Will the dates change? The fair’s recent spans have all run Tuesday to Monday while shifting their calendar dates from year to year, so the season holds steady while the exact days move.
The Van Wert County Fair closes as it opens, with horses on the track and a crowd in the grandstand.
