Napa Fair returns: new rides, drag and farm animals

Visitors shrouded in carnival neon light wait in line for one of the rides at the Napa Town & Country Fair 2022. This year's fair runs at the Expo Aug. 10 to 13.

Visitors watched as drag queen Sasha Devaroe applied makeup as a part of a live performance at the Makers Market during the 2022 Town & Country Fair.

Spectators look on as 4-H members have their pigs judged at the livestock barns during the 2022 Napa Town & Country Fair.

A 4-H member guides their pig around a Napa Valley Expo arena during judging at the 2022 Town & Country Fair.

Jefferson Starship will perform at the Napa Town & Country Fair on Aug. 10.

Country star Craig Morgan will perform at the Napa Town & Country Fair on Aug. 11.

The electronic music group Cheat Codes will be performing at the Napa Town & Country Fair on Aug. 12

Banda Machos will perform at the Napa Town & Country Fair on Aug. 13.

Attractions old and new will take over the Napa Valley Expo when it hosts its annual Town & Country Fair next week.

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The late-summer mélange of rides, carnival games, farm animals and more returns Aug. 10-13 to the Expo at 575 Third St. in downtown Napa. This year’s highlights will range from standbys like the Junior Livestock Auction and nightly concerts to additions that include the exhibition’s first-ever drag show.

Gates will open at 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Aug. 10 and 11, and at noon Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 12 and 13. The Expo grounds will stay open until 10 p.m. each night.

While “traditions are the foundations of fairs” and lend them much of their nostalgic charm, “we also need to stay relevant and interesting to draw a crowd,” said Corey Oakley, chief executive of the state-owned Expo.

“A fair traditionally is a bunch of events rolled into one, (so) we try to offer something for everyone,” including new events that make more people feel welcome, he said in a recent email.

The Napa fair’s traditional showpiece, the Junior Livestock Auction, will take over the Expo’s animal pavilion on the morning of Aug. 12, showcasing cattle, goats, sheep and other animals raised by Napa Valley children and teenagers through local 4-H clubs and FFA chapters. Last summer’s auction raised a record $1.89 million for livestock-raising youth.

“Each animal project teaches them about responsibility, finances, empathy, cooperation and sportsmanship,” said Oakley. “Every one of the more than 250 kids involved in the program has learned how to run their own business.”

“No one ever visits the Fair on this day, observes the auction process and the kids at work, and doesn't walk away with more knowledge about agriculture. This goes for the kids as well.”

Livestock shows at the Expo will begin Aug. 8 and are free prior to the opening of the fair. The Junior Livestock Auction on Aug. 12 will start at 9 a.m., with registration beginning one hour before.

Napa’s fair also will showcase the Ag Alley, with attractions ranging from a corn pit and edible garden display to an insect display and activities for adults and children.

Other events returning to the Napa fair include the Makers Market, karaoke contests, the Wine Lounge, Kid Zone and Playspace, and adult and junior arts and crafts exhibits.

This year’s most notable addition to the fair may be its debut drag show on Aug. 11, led by the Napa disc jockey Rob Doughty, known as DJ Rotten Robbie. “Drag is really hot right now. … People love it,” he said in a phone interview.

“Napa is a little more progressive” than the states attempting to restrict drag performances, or cities where Proud Boys and other agitators have harassed and disrupted drag shows, Doughty added. “I keep an eye out” for troublemakers, he continued, but the passion for drag is there and “it would have happened anyway.”

Other additions to the 2023 fair will include an expanded carnival with two roller coasters and five new children’s rides, along with Cooks Racing Pigs, a petting farm and pony rides.

The Town & Country Fair will feature a variety of musicians on three Expo venues, with headliners playing on the Joe Anderson Plaza Stage. Jefferson Starship will perform there on Aug. 10, followed by Craig Morgan on Aug. 11, Cheat Codes Aug. 12, and Banda Machos and Banda Maguey Aug. 13.

Meanwhile, the Bandstand Stage will host a series of tribute bands, and the Locals Live! Stage will present musicians from the Napa area. Tyzen the Comedy Hypnotist also will perform several shows during the fair.

Napa Town & Country Fair

Thursday, Aug. 10 to Sunday, Aug. 13

Napa Valley Expo, 575 Third St., Napa

Tickets: $10 in advance or $15 at the gate; $7 for military members, seniors 60 and older and children 6-12 ($12 at the gate). For children 5 and younger admission is free.

Seniors and children 12 and younger get free admission on opening day Aug. 10.

Carnival wristbands for unlimited rides are $35 in advance, $45 at the gate. Advance ticket and wristband sales are available until 11:59 p.m. Aug. 9.

Group ticket sales are also available.

For more information, visit napafair.org.

Auctioneers take bids on animals raised by FFA and 4-H members during the Junior Livestock Auction at the Napa Town and Country Fair.

Fairgoers braved temperatures above 90 degrees on Sunday afternoon and continued to line up for the carnival rides on the fourth and final day of the Napa Town & Country Fair. Returning as a full-scale event for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic's arrival in 2020, the fair drew crowds to the Napa Valley Expo with its carnival, nightly concerts and Saturday's Junior Livestock Auction, as well as new attractions like a wine lounge and an interactive makers' fair showcasing arts and crafts.

Visitors at the Napa Valley Expo made their way down the giant slide at the Napa Town & Country Fair, which was concluding a four-day run on Sunday.

Fairgoers added their own flavored syrups to their shave ice cones at the Napa Valley Expo, where the fourth and last day of the Napa Town & Country Fair took place amid temperatures in the low 90s.

An inflatable sculpture garden by the artist Stanton Clark greeted visitors entering the makers' fair set up inside Chardonnay Hall at the Napa Valley Expo. The makers' fair, an interactive exhibit where arts and crafts specialists produced their work in front of spectators, was a new attraction this year at the Town & Country Fair, which made its full return from two years of pandemic restrictions.

Visitors on the last day of the Napa Town & Country Fair lined up for barbecue, one of the traditional treats served up during the event at the Napa Valley Expo.

Braxton Luce, 11, posed for a caricature Sunday afternoon during the fourth and final day of the Napa Town & Country Fair.

A person in a smiling dairy cow costume strolled along with fairgoers Sunday afternoon during Napa Town & Country Fair's final day.

Charles Gennet, 5, posed for a caricature at the Napa & and Country Fair on Sunday.

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