One may notice that the Dodge County Fair entertainment lineup looks a little different this year. Since 1984, the fair has organized a four day concert series for fair attendees. This year however, your favorite national touring artists will be taking the stage on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings to maintain a high-level lineup of artists.

The Dodge County Fair will be offering a new family-friendly event to start the festivities in 2017.   The Badger State Tractor Pull is scheduled to kick off the fair on Wednesday, August 16 at 7:00 pm.  Organizers are looking forward to offering a variety of affordable entertainment in the lineup this year – to appeal to all interests and a broader audience.  Badger State Tractor Pullers is the premier pulling association in the State of Wisconsin.  Greg Elsing, President of Badger State Tractor Pullers, promises an exciting evening for everyone that attends.  Two tracks will provide non-stop entertainment for the whole family.  Vehicles will navigate the tracks going over 25 mph, pulling a sled weighing 40,000 pounds.  The tractor pull will include various pro stock tractors and some of the top-running diesel trucks in the country.  Each class will include ten to twenty competitors from all over the Midwest.

This change in entertainment was also made to enable the fair to continue securing popular rock, modern and classic country artists on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Past recording artists that have performed on the grandstand have included Toby Keith, Justin Moore and Ted Nugent to name a few. “One of the major factors was the increasing price to get affordable acts for the concerts.  So we decided to take a different approach as alternative entertainment,” says Doug Ninmann, President of the Dodge County Fair Association. Doug recalls that it was a “packed house” for the NTPA tractor pulls in the late-90’s and he hopes that they can replicate that excitement at the BSTP tractor pull this year.

The Dodge County Fair looks forward to continuing to offer high-quality entertainment for the whole family at an affordable price.  The concert series, tractor pull and all other grandstand entertainment is always FREE with paid gate admission to the fair.  Attend the fair for only $5.40 per day with the purchase of a 2017 season ticket.  Daily gate admission is $7 before 2:00 pm; or $10 after 2:00 pm.  Children age nine and under are FREE.  2017 season tickets are only $27 before August 16 and $35 at the gate.

Details related to the tractor pull and concert series will be shared on the Dodge County Fairgrounds website over the next several months.  To be notified when the concert lineup is announced, please subscribe to the Dodge County Fairgrounds newsletter for updates.

We welcome your comments and questions in the reply section below.

by Jamie Adcock author of runningdivamom.com and sunprairiemom.com