Editor's note: Pick up a copy of Thursday's edition of The Chronicle for a full guide to the Southwest Washington Fair. The fair runs Aug. 15-20. Visit https://southwestwashingtonfair.org/ to learn more.
Besides the return of poultry and rabbits, both of which were absent from the 2022 Southwest Washington Fair due to animal illnesses spreading in Washington, the fairgrounds will have some changes worth checking out when the fair begins on Tuesday, Aug. 15.
In the entertainment categories, monster trucks and the All-Alaskan Racing Pigs will be back, both after a long hiatus.
On the Midway, there will be three new food vendors this year.
One is Pineapple Dole Whip, another, which serves meat, is called the Twisted Pig. Also, newly-established Chehalis restaurant The Pasta Bowl will have a food booth.
The hobbies department is moving into the Exposition Hall with bigger displays, according to fair office employee Pat Slusher Jr.
On the other side of the Exposition Hall will be a rock, gem and mineral display, which fair organizers are hoping to develop into a department of its own.
“People are really fascinated by that stuff,” Slusher said. “This year they had promised me they’re going to have one thousand pieces of rock, gems and minerals on display.”
Lastly, for the first time, the fair will have an Elvis Presley themed day. Because Slusher said the recent Elvis biopic has raised a lot of conversations about the rock-n-roll “king,” he suggested an Elvis day on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
Then, Slusher said, he looked it up and realized Aug. 16 was the anniversary of the musical star’s death.
“I said, ‘That’s an omen, we’ve gotta have an Elvis day,’” Slusher recalled. “We’ve got Danny Vernon during the afternoon. And then, in the evening, we have another gentleman named Roger Anderson of the evening show. He is backed up by an eight-piece nightclub-type band that is fantastic. So it’s really a show.”
