The grandstand and nightly entertainment at the Hancock County District Fair will be familiar to attendees this year but that's what draws them, said fair board member Randy Hiscocks.
"It's tough to get rid of entertainment when it fills the stands, whether it's Johnny Holm or the Night of Destruction," Hiscocks said. "With Johnny Holm, we talked about doing something different, but every year, he fills that arena."
Johnny Holm and the Night of Destruction are two of the five nights of entertainment at the fair which runs from July 23-27 in Britt.
The East Central Iowa Tractor Pullers Association tractor pull starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. Johnny Holm performs at 9 p.m. Thursday, July 24 in the show ring. The stock car special is at 7 p.m., Friday, July 25, followed by a concert by Gunnar and the Grizzly Boys at 9:30 p.m. The Night of Destruction, which features bus, semi-tractor, trailer and other races, is 7 p.m., Saturday, July 26 and the demolition derby is 7 p.m. Sunday, July 27.
The fair board doesn't change the entertainment line-up much, if at all, from year to year.
As Hicocks said, it's a lineup that works. The fair board has added about 1,400 seats to the grandstand in the past two years.
Hiscocks believed 600 seats were added this year but when the new bleachers were measured more thoroughly, "It wasn't 600 seats but we added 900," Hiscocks said.
The board had added 500 seats in 2013.
"We've had double digit increases in our grandstand attendance in the past year," Hiscocks said.
The nightly entertainment is what the community wants, Hiscocks said.
"It's the community's fair," Hiscocks said.
The community has responded well to the Night of Destruction. Competitors race buses, semi-tractors, vehicles attached to each other in train fashion and other combinations of vehicles that is a departure from traditional stock car racing.
While it's unusual racing, organizers still try to make a few changes each year, Hiscocks said.
"We try to tweak it each year so the guys participating don't figure it out," Hiscocks said. "We might change the course a little bit..."
The nightly entertainment is a major part of the fair but it's only one piece, Hiscocks said.
The fair also features free entertainment, the food vendors, various project exhibits, vendors and the 4-H and FFA livestock and other projects.
"We can have all the entertainment we want but without the 4-H and FFA out here...(it's not the fair)," Hiscocks said.
