.jpg)
Central Location, Livestock Security Among Reasons
The Rockbridge Regional Fair and Expo, held in Glasgow the past three years, will be returning to the Virginia Horse Center this year.
“There’s a multiplicity of reasons for returning to the horse center,” said William Russell, chair of the fair board who wrote a letter to Glasgow Town Council earlier this month informing the town of the decision to move the fair back to the horse center, where it was held from 1992 to 2019.
“There’s a demand for a more central location by vendors and others,” explained Russell to The News-Gazette last week. “It’s really important that we have a fair that is accessible to the greatest amount of people in the county. We do receive [financial] support from the county. Everyone needs to have reasonable access to the fair.”
Another issue raised is the security of livestock that are brought to the fair for 4-H competitions. At the Locher Pavilion and grounds in Glasgow, Russell said, there was no way to lock up the livestock at night. Also, various exhibits associated with the fair had to be held off-site at a church during the fair’s run in Glasgow.
The fair, including a midway, will be held again in the southeast part of the horse center. Two barns, and possibly a third, will be utilized for fair activities. The mezzanine of the Anderson Arena will again be used for the display of entries in art and quilt contests.
“This is a transition for us,” commented Russell. “We’re expanding educational opportunities for the agricultural community. We’ll have speakers and so forth. We’re doing an outreach to the schools. We wanted a more central location to expand what we do with the schools.”
The fair will be held this year on Sept. 12-14, which is a week later than it’s been held in recent years. The dates are driven by the schedule at the horse center. For much of its history, the fair was held in late July, but hot temperatures and rain sometimes hurt attendance. The dates were later changed to when school was in session to encourage more student involvement.
Attendance had declined somewhat during the fair’s years in Glasgow, Russell confirmed, though he didn’t have the exact numbers. It’s hoped that attendance will rebound with its return to the horse center.
Decisions haven’t yet been made on musical entertainment for the fair – whether to go with local performers or name acts. “We’re basically still in the planning stages,” said Russell. “We’ll come out with schedules. I’m kind of a gatekeeper for information from the board.”
The notif ication to Glasgow Town Council, he said, was a courtesy to the town, given prior to making a public announcement to the greater community.
