No carnival for Quay County Fair

For the second straight year, this week’s Quay County Fair will not have a carnival on the west side of the fairgrounds, mostly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, this year’s fair includes a new wrinkle that could prove appealing to many more young children — the board lowered the age requirement for exhibitors to 6 and up, from the previous 9 years of age.

This year’s fair at the county fairgrounds in west Tucumcari runs from Thursday through Saturday, with the Junior Livestock Auction at 6 p.m. at the show arena to conclude the event.

Last year, the fair couldn’t land a carnival operator due to COVID-19 restrictions. This year, the restrictions largely are gone, but the fair board still couldn’t find a carnival operator, board President Dallas Dowell said last week in a phone interview.

“I really think the COVID deal put a lot of small carnivals out of business,” he said. “We weren’t able to contact one, weren’t able to find one that was able to come.”

Dowell was reluctant to predict whether the fair would have a carnival in 2022.

“We’ll do our best; that’s all can tell you,” he said. “It does help people get to the fair.”

Dowell noted the 4-H concession stand will return this year after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic restrictions, along with several food vendors.

He said the fair’s exhibition hall, along with its booths, also will be open this year after it largely was closed a year ago.

The fair board announced in March it would allow children age 6, 7 and 8 years old to participate in all livestock shows at the fair, including during the auction Saturday. The previous age cutoff was 9 years old.

“We wanted to get more young kids out there showing,” Dowell said of the decision.

Here are the highlights from this week’s fair schedule. Wednesday is essentially a set-up day for livestock owners and exhibit-hall entries.

Thursday

• 8 a.m.: Bibles and Burritos

• 9 a.m.: Rabbit show

• 10 a.m.: Sheep and Goat Showmanship Clinic (show arena)

• Noon: Poultry show

• 1 to 9 p.m.: Exhibit Hall opens to public

• 6 p.m.: Junior swine show, first-year feeder swine show, county bred swine show and swine showmanship

Friday

• 8 a.m.: Bibles and Burritos

• 8 a.m.: Junior goat shows, first-year feeder goat show, county-bred goat show and goat showmanship

• 30 minutes after goat show: Junior market lamb show, first-year feeder lamb show, county-bred lamb show and lamb showmanship

• 1 p.m.: Steer and heifer showmanship clinic

• 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Watermelon feed

• 4:30 p.m.: Catch-it-heifer show followed by commercial heifer show, first-year feeder heifer show, county-bred heifer show

• 30 minutes after heifer show: Junior steer show, first-year feeder steer show, county-bred steer show, beef showmanship

• 9 p.m.: Cornhole tournament

• 9 p.m. to midnight: 4-H Dance at convention center

Saturday

• 8 a.m.: Bibles and Burritos

• 11 a.m.: Itty Bitty Rodeo

• Noon: Pet parade

• 1 p.m.: Farm Bureau horseshoe pitching contest

• 6 p.m.: Junior Livestock Sale