PRESQUE ISLE, Maine - Tigers and tunes, tractors and titanic trucks will share space at the Northern Maine Fair and Music Festival this year, as the 154th annual fair opens its gates Friday for a nine-day run.
“We believe that we have got a really great family event put together here,” Lynwood Winslow, fair president, said Wednesday. “We’ ve got several new events this year and a number of events that are going to appeal to people of all ages.”
The new features include the Nerger Tiger Show, where Judit and Juergen Nerger, who hail from Germany, will entertain the crowd with their 12 tigers and one lion. During the show, the animals jump through hoops and fire rings, and perform other tricks, including playing leap frog. There will be multiple performances daily behind the Commercial Building, with the first at 6 p.m. Friday.
“This is something new, something that the fair wouldn’ t normally feature, but something that the whole family can come to and sit down and enjoy together,” said Winslow.
“We are also having two monster truck shows this year,” he continued. “One performance will take place on Tuesday, July 29, and the other will be on July 30.”
Both events will be held at 7 p.m. at the Grandstand.
Music will be a central part of this year’ s events as the fourth Northern Maine Music Festival will coincide with the fair. The fest features nine nights of local music from various genres, including country, rock, gospel, jazz, fiddle, traditional and bluegrass.
The midway will again be provided by Smokey’ s Greater Shows.
“We’ ve got some great rides that are being set up right now,” said Winslow. “The Thunderbolt and The Zipper are back this year, which we didn’ t have last year. We also have some new rides and the Gravitron and the Ferris wheel.”
Other events include a demolition derby Saturday, July 26, and children’ s day Tuesday, July 29. Highlights of that day will include kid’ s games, face painting, a princess party and a pig scramble.
For older youths, teen night will be Aug. 1, featuring laser tag and a battle of the bands at The Forum beginning at 7:30 p.m.
As in past years, the Agriculture and Art Exhibition Buildings will be full of arts and crafts, flowers, vegetables and other goods. Participants will compete for cash prizes and ribbons. The Historical Pavilion and living history exhibits also are expected to be a big draw at the fair. The pavilion features displays from throughout The County, and those tending the displays will answer questions. The displays will be held daily from 4 to 8 p.m. July 29-31, at The Forum.
Admission is $7 for people age 13 and older, while children ages 7-12 will be charged $2. Children 6 and under get in free.
For more information
, log on to www.NorthernMaineFairgrounds.com