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.
For those who won’t make it into the Grandstand this year, the fair will feature “Wool Busters” mutton busting on the north end of the fairgrounds every night at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. Competing and viewing is open to all.
Other events outside of the Grandstands are sure to provide fairgoers a hefty amount of excitement, too — and, all are free with admission to the fair. Hell’s Belles, a “world-famous, all-female AC/DC tribute band,” according to their trademark, will headline this year’s Saloon Stage musical performances at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
If any band can compete with the noise of Saturday’s monster truck shows, that would be Hell’s Belles.
“They’re wild,” said fair employee Pat Slusher Jr. “Off stage, they are the calmest, most pleasant young ladies. On stage, they’re wild. And they have a following. And their music has a following, of course.”
Back by popular demand, Slusher said, The Kingsmen will also perform on the Saloon Stage at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Known for Washington state’s Legislature-approved state rock song, “Louie Louie,” Slusher said the band is the most requested act for the Southwest Washington Fair, several years running.
As of Saturday, the fair has already seen 4,339 entries from 476 exhibitors, which surpasses submissions from last year. Entries will continue to roll in throughout the next few weeks.
Besides displays of the best crafts, livestock, art and food in Lewis County, attendees can also see unicycling comedy juggler Mark Wilder four times a day on the Midway at random intervals, the Parrott Ambassadors at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. each day inside the Exposition Hall and, on Thursday through Sunday at noon, 3 and 6 p.m. in the field behind the fair office: All-Alaskan Racing Pigs.
The fair will also feature two Christian musical performers, sponsored by KACS.
One, a band called “Cochren & Company” is led by Michael Cochren, an award winning singer/songwriter born and raised in a small Indiana town, according to the fair office. Cochren plays music across the country with a band of friends and his wife Leah. The group has “a reputation for hope-filled lyrics and timeless melodies, blending American pop-rock (and) soul and blues to create a classic sound all their own,” stated a bio sent by the fair.
The group has many musical accolades, including a single that topped the 2022 Top 15 Billboard Christian chart called “Thank God For Sunday Morning.”
On June 13, 2023 Cochren & Company made its first debut at the Grand Ole Opry. The group’s fair performance will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20 on the Saloon Stage.
The other performer, Jordan Feliz, launched his career as a hard-touring heavy metal singer, then switched gears to become a church worship leader, before signing a Nashville record deal and building his reputation as a songwriter and soulful R&B-groove-pop artist, according to the fair office. Fronting the West Coast buzz band, “A Current Affair,” gave Feliz’s powerful vocals major exposure right out of high school.
Feliz’s debut project was Beloved, richly influenced with 1970’s sensibilities and a modern pop context.
“I was the kid growing up with the headphones on listening to every lick and reading the lyrics,” Feliz said in a bio sent by the fair office. “I (re)discovered artists like the Commodores, Bill Withers and Nat King Cole. When I was in the studio making ‘Beloved,’ I told my producers I didn’t want thirty guitars stacked on one track. ... I want to put one guitar sound on a song and find a way to make that one lick sound massive, the way those 70’s artists were able to.”
Learn more about the fair at https://southwestwashingtonfair.org/.
Every day event schedule — free with admission
• Comedy Juggler Mark Wilder — four times daily on the main Midway
• Wool Busters (mutton bustin’ for kids) — 2, 4 and 6 p.m on the north end of fairgrounds
• Parrott Ambassadors — 1, 3 and 5 p.m. inside the Expo Hall
• Thursday through Sunday: All-Alaskan Racing Pigs — noon, 3 and 6 p.m in the fair office field
