By Valeria QuezadaThe 76thannual Eddy County Fair is coming to the community July 27-31, with plenty of activities and events for the entire family.Saturday,July 24,will be the entry day for the Exhibit Building. Open class entries, 4-H indoor entries, and lead class entries will be accepted this day. Open sections are for everyone, adults and children;they don’t have to be in the 4H. The rules and categories can be found in the fair book on page 36, which isavailable onlineor through hard copy at the extension office and any feed store in the county.On Monday,July 26,all livestock will be taken tothe fairgrounds through the covered arena from 7 a.m. to noon. Livestock being inspected will be market cattle, market lambs, market swine, meat goats, breeding goats, breeding heifers, poultry, dairy heifers, breeding sheep, prospect yearlings, and rabbits.At noon,there will be a general rules meeting,with a lunch to follow. At 2 p.m.,the Eddy County fair queen will give a speech at the white building next to the food court. Inthe early morning hours onMonday of the fair week, all gates leading into the fenced-in area will be locked. The small walk-through gates will remain open during fair hours. The fenced-in area encloses the Livestock Barn, the Exhibit Building, and the Steer Barn. Once the gates are locked, they will remain locked until the conclusion of the fair.On Tuesday,July 27,the swine, lamb, and market cattle judging will be held in the morning. At 4 p.m.,the public can enjoy the annual opening parade to kick off the week of fun-filled activities. The public can join the parade by stopping at the Artesia Chamber of Commerce for an entry form prior to the event. Immediately following the parade, at 5 p.m.,the Exhibit Building and the Eddy County Community Center will be open to the public until 9 p.m. The dairy heifer show will be held at 7 p.m. at the Livestock Barn show ring.
On Wednesday, July 28,the rabbit show will be held at the Livestock Barn show ring at 8a.m., followedimmediately by the horse show in the covered arena. From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.,the Exhibit Building and the Eddy County Community Center will be opento the public. The “Create and Enter a Design” Flower Show will be held at the Eddy County Community Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. At 2 p.m.,there will be a prospect yearling class held in the covered arena. The final event of the day will be the swine show at 6 p.m. in the Livestock Barn show ring. OnThursday, July 29, the “James Hamilton” Breeding Sheep Show will begin at 9 a.m. at theLivestock Barn show ring, immediately followed by the booster lamb show and the market lamb show. At 10:30 a.m.,the flower show entries will be judged at the Eddy County Community Center. This day,the Exhibit Building and the Eddy County Community Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The carnival will kick off this evening at 5 p.m. and will be held at this time throughout the weekend. The booster meat goat show will be at the Livestock Barn show ring at 5:30 p.m., followed by the meat goat show at 6 p.m.The weekend will be jam packed with various activities! On Friday, July 30, poultry show broiler judging will be held at the Livestock Barn show ring at 8 a.m., followed by breeding poultry judging. Entries for the flower showwill also be accepted at the Eddy County Community Center from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Beginning at 9:30 a.m.,there will be a breeding heifer show at the Livestock Barn show ring, followed by the market cattle show at 10 a.m. Entries for the pecan contest will be accepted from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The carnival and the lead class at the Livestock Barn show ring will begin at 5 p.m. The pecan contest auction will follow at 6 p.m. at the same place as the lead class. The night will finish off with an exciting bull riding event in the Horse Council Open Arena at 7:30 p.m. and a concert from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
On Saturday,the events continue with the start of the booster swine show at 9 a.m. The ExhibitBuilding and the Eddy County Community Center will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. A delicious Chili Cook-off and Ice Cream Competition will begin at 12 p.m.followed by the “Jack Rauch” Anvil Toss at 2 p.m., as well as the release of the 4-H indoor exhibits. At 4 p.m.,the winners for the 4-H and FFA awards will be presented at the Livestock Barn show ring, followed by the Buyers Dinner in the food court and the start of the carnival at 5 p.m. The 4-H and FFA Junior Livestock Auction will close Saturday’s events at 6 p.m. in the Livestock Barn show ring. On Sunday, August 1, the release of the livestock will be done at 9 a.m. During this time,the Exhibit Building andtheEddy County Community Center will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The week of exciting events willclose off Sunday night with the start of the carnival at 5 p.m.The Eddy County Fair of 2021 is the perfect opportunity for people and families of the county to enjoy a week of activities, especially after the year of 2020 that put a halt to many of the events of the local county and community!