175th Shelby County Fair offering variety of entertainment options

Final preparations are underway for the 175th Annual Shelby County Fair.

“Isn’t that crazy! That’s a lot of years. It’s kind of a proud tradition to have,” said Shelby County Fair Board President Jennifer Thopy. “Not very many counties can say they have 175 years of a county fair.”

The fair officially opens Monday and runs through June 15 with a final night Demolition Derby at the main grandstand, which was a standing-room only event in 2023.

The most recent upgrade to the fairgrounds facility came earlier this week when new aluminum pens were installed in the livestock pavilion.

“We have had the same wooden pens inside the livestock pavilion for over 50 years,” said Shelby County Fair Board Second Vice President Christa Weaver. “On Monday, we installed brand new aluminum pens. It looks like a completely different building now.”

Thopy is anxious for this year’s crop of 4-H boys and girls to see the new-look building.

“We are very excited. This kind of all happened because in 2021 we were able to put the concrete down (for a new floor). There wasn’t a point to buy new pens until we had a nice floor to put them on.”

The pens (photo) will be put to use right away. Here is the 4-H show schedule for fair week:

_x000D_ Monday: Dairy Cattle Show 9 a.m.; 4H Mini Show (goats, sheep, swine) 1 p.m.; Beef Cattle Show 3:30 p.m._x000D_ Tuesday: Swine Show 8 a.m.; Poultry Show 1 p.m.; Sheep Show 5 p.m._x000D_ Wednesday: Dairy Goat Show 8 a.m.; Pygmy and Meat Goat Show 1 p.m.; Shelby County Royal 7 p.m._x000D_ Thursday: Rabbit Show 9 a.m._x000D_ Friday: Horse and Pony Show 9:30 a.m.; Llama and Alpaca Show 2 p.m._x000D_ Saturday: Horse and Pony Show 9:30 a.m._x000D_

The main grandstand schedule features a variety of entertainment options.

Shelby County’s Got Talent Show is Monday at 7:30 p.m. The event will be hosted by Rafael Sanchez from Fox 59 and CBS. Tickets are $5.

TQ Midget Racing is Tuesday on the dirt track in front of the grandstand. Tickets are $10 for grandstand seating or $30 for a pit pass. Racing starts at 7 p.m.

Wednesday is Touch-A-Truck Night. This is a free event where fair visitors can get an up-close-and-personal look at a variety or large service vehicles that will be on display at the grandstand. The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

The Bon Jovi tribute band “Crush” will perform Thursday at the grandstand at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Friday features tractor pulls at the grandstand. The Battle of the Bluegrass Truck and Tractor Pulls starts at 7:30 p.m. Grandstand tickets and pit passes are $15.

The Demolition Derby closes out fair week at the grandstand Saturday. Tickets are $15 for grandstand seating and $25 for pit passes. The derby starts at 7 p.m.

Wednesday is Kids Day at the Shelby County Fair. Rides will start at 1 p.m. and the petting zoo will be open early.

In addition, there will be a variety of other entertainment options during the fair as well as multiple food vendors.

For more fair information, visit Shelby County Fair – Shelbyville, Indiana on Facebook.

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