Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Benton County Fair

The other major summer event in Corvallis (along with da Vinci Days) is the Benton County Fair and Rodeo. It features carnival rides, rodeo and tractor pull competitions and live country music.


All this takes place pretty much in our backyard.

My friend Tracy and her daughter Kayla are heavily involved in this event, and they arranged for me to help take entries in the food competition (pies, canned food, cakes, etc.) for a couple of hours on Sunday and Monday. It was enough to get me a free pass.



I was struck by the contrast between the two events. da Vinci Days had a lot of science displays and events (kinetic races, remote control airplanes, robot derby, etc.) and left leaning political booths (Basic Rights Oregon, and a variety of environmental organizations), and even a skeptics booth for kids in the family area. The fair, on the other hand, had an anti-evolution booth and evangelical church groups.

I like da Vinci Days best.

2 comments:

Eric said...

To be fair (har), the Benton County Fair also had motorcycle jumping, which was totally awesome.

Also, that picture of the fair's skyline is very cool.

daspore said...

A good 10 years ago, I won a 3-foot tall stuffed alien at that fair from the basketball shooting game. It holds a special place in my heart as it resides in my mom's middle school science room, so I personally cannot totally nix the fair.

Also, don't forget about the Fall Festival. I usually thought it occurred the week before school, but apparently it is the week after this year. There are lots of artsy booths and some music, and it doesn't cost money to see.

http://corvallisfallfestival.org/

-Paul