Carson City Fair planned for July

Organizers of the Carson City Fair are looking for volunteers and donors to help with this year’s event.

“Even if nonprofit groups want to take on a daily contest, they’re welcome to reach out,” said Lindsay Chichester, extension educator of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. “The more we can offer and do, obviously the better fair we’ll have. Ultimately, it goes back to this being a fair put on by the community for the community.”

The Carson City Fair came to be out of a void left when the Nevada State Fair closed for lack of funds in 2010 after a 136-year run.

While a nonprofit was formed in 2013 to revive the state fair, it wasn’t organized until 2016. In the interim, Carson City sponsored a Nevada Fair in 2014 and 2015, which was also shut down for lack of funding.

While the Nevada State Fair returned to Mills Park in 2016, Chichester said, some were disappointed with the lack of a livestock auction and other agricultural displays.

“My personal mission is to help increase the public awareness around agriculture and why we raise animals,” Chichester said. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misconception around that.”

The two fairs can’t be combined, she said, because of timing. The Nevada State Fair in June is too early for the livestock auction and horticulture displays.

“Most kids show their animals in the Nevada Junior Livestock Show in May,” Chichester said. “It’s hard for them to turn around and have an animal ready a month later.”

The same is true when it comes to gardening.

“In this area, the crops just aren’t ready in June,” she said. “July is better timing for all of that stuff.”

RSVP will provide the carnival for the Carson City Fair on July 27-30, with displays from the Northern Nevada Antique Tractor and Engine Club. Music and other entertainment is also being planned.

“It will be a small-town, traditional vibe,” Chichester said.

She said the next step in the planning process is to post the fair book for people to sign up for the livestock auction and static displays.

“We’re finalizing the small details,” she said. “The large details for the most part have been hashed out.”

The Carson City Fair is being organized by a cooperation of nonprofit organizations in the area.

“We’re hoping that this model is sustainable,” she said. “We don’t have a fair manager. It’s truly a community affair.”