It’s almost fair time! We are busy putting the finishing touches on the Altamont fairgrounds, preparing to welcome you to the 122nd Altamont Fair, which runs from Aug. 11 to 16.

It’s time to get your entries in for all of the competitions. Do you have a great pie or cookie recipe? Are you an artist? Did you grow flowers or vegetables? Enter them! Are you a quilter or fiber artist? You can enter those, too!

There are special contests in the Blue Ribbon Cooking Center, including a cheesecake competition and a watermelon-eating contest! Entry information for all of our contests is available online at www.altamontfair.com. Most of the competitions have an entry deadline; paper entries are due July 27 and online entries are open until Aug. 3.

There are so many new activities and attractions for children — young and old! Be sure and stop in to see Kids Buck$, an exciting new game show. The final winner of rounds of crazy games enters the Kidbuck$ chamber and grabs as many "Kidbuck$" as possible, as they swirl about the chamber.

Also new this year is the National Guard shooting simulator. How good of a marksman are you?

We are hosting hula hoop and bubble-gum contests, and children will be able to decorate cookies with the Miss Altamont Fair princesses, make crafts with Mrs. Red Shoes in the Arts & Crafts Building, and visit with a variety of storybook princesses.

Check out the Ag Awareness Trail, a scavenger hunt that will let participants tour the fairgrounds, looking for answers to questions about agriculture. Submit your findings to enter for a chance to win a grand prize.

Bring the kids to try their hands at milking a cow and picking apples off the apple tree. Designed for the younger set, the activities provide hands-on farming experiences.

The Auto Museum has a display titled “Cars: Past, Present, and Future.” Dave Davies Sr. and Dave Davies Jr. will show their amazing motorcycles with custom paint and pin striping. Stop in and chat bikes with the masters of motorcycling-building and customizations.

Stop in the Altamont Country Store, located in the refurbished 1890s Village and Carriage Museum. There will be locally handcrafted and produced items for sale created by artists associated with the fair. We will also have Altamont Fair T-shirts for sale.  Visit the Shermans’ lumberjack show, which has expanded seating.

There will be music and a hypnotist and FMX shows every day. The Disc-Connected K9’s World Famous Frisbee dogs will be here as well as “Twiggs,” the giraffe, in the petting zoo, and the Hollywood Circus. Join us for the fun!

One-price admission includes unlimited rides, attractions, the circus under the big top, and parking. Admission is $15 online and at the gate on Tuesday and Wednesday, and $17 at the gate Thursday through Sunday. Wednesday is Senior and Military Day — people who are 65 years and older and members of the armed forces will receive free admission and unlimited rides thanks to Dreamland Amusements until 4 p.m. Pre-sale online tickets are available now for $15, and are good any day — a savings of $2 on the $17 admission. 

The Altamont Fair is a three-county fair representing Albany, Schenectady, and Greene counties. It is a not-for-profit, public educational and historical society supported entirely by admissions, rentals, contributions, and the assistance of hundreds of dedicated volunteers. For more details and information, check out www.altamontfair.com.

Editor’s note: Pat Canaday is a volunteer Altamont Fair Board member.