Date of Visit: July 25, 2024

This year feels like the year of county fairs for us. We were recently at the Berks County Fair and the Lebanon Area Fair and have plans to visit up to three more by the end of the year.

In between those, we made a stop at the Bedford County Fair. And it may have been our favorite yet.

The Bedford County Fairgrounds are located just west of the town of Bedford, right behind the community’s most famous landmark, the Coffee Pot.

Bedford is one of the fairs that charges a flat admission rate – that includes access to the grounds, most of the rides, and a seat in the grandstand. We paid $36 for our family (our one-year-old was free) plus a $3 parking fee and we definitely felt like we got our money’s worth.

Entering the fairgrounds on a Thursday evening, the first thing we came to was the Marvelous Mutts. It’s a dog show featuring two women and their rescue dogs.

It was an impressive show – and they stressed that these dogs are pets first, performers second, which was evidenced when one of the dogs made a left turn out of the obstacle course and into the crowd in search of a pat on the head. But whether on the agility course, catching frisbees, or dock-diving, it was a fun show.

Next to the dog show was the petting zoo which had free admission (guests could pay extra to feed the animals) to the pen filled with goats, sheep, and even a mini horse. There was also a separate enclosure with antelope and another with smaller animals like rabbits.

Continuing on, we came across Jordan Hall. This is where many of the exhibits were, including vegetables, baked goods, sewn items and photography.

It was also home to the Kids’ corner, which was the only somewhat disappointing part because it was literally just a corner with three little activities. But the Plinko board was cool and kids got prizes every time which made our six-year-old very happy.

What was really impressive about the fair was the midway – and the number of rides and food vendors.

There were three rows with food trucks. Of course there were the standard carnival concessions like corn dogs and fried everything, but there were also local food trucks serving burgers, boba and our personal favorite, monkey bread.

And there was a great variety of rides, including two bigger thrill rides for older kids and adults – the Ring of Fire was a roller coaster type ride that looped upside down.

Of course there were also the tamer rides like the kiddie coaster, carousel, tilt-a-whirl and even bumper cars.

All of this was located next to the grandstand, which was packed for the demolition derby. The show kicked off with a kids “demo derby” in which they drove around on their Power Wheels and bumped into each for a few minutes.

The real show featured three divisions of cars and mini vans crashing into each other along the front straight of Bedford Speedway. It was a fun show and everyone went crazy when it was down to the last two cars and they crashed head-on to see which one would survive.

On the other side of the track were the ag exhibits.

The 4H building featured entries from the youth of Bedford County, including their well-done exhibits, artwork and my son’s favorite, the LEGO creations.

Outside, there were even more food vendors, including a BBQ stand, local ice cream and more.

There was also a row of stables with a show arena in the middle. Local youth were presenting their prized swine while we were in the area. We also took the time to walk through one of the cattle barns.

In three hours, we got through a lot of the fair, but we could have spent another hour or two. We didn’t even really get to sit and listen to the band that was playing near the midway, nor did we get to do all the rides.

But we had a lot of fun, and we will definitely put this at the top of our list of fairs to visit again in the future.

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