Hancock — It seems pretty obvious that kids love fairs. More to the point, kids love the Houghton County Fair, and why shouldn’t they? All the rides, the games with incredible prizes and of course — fair food! But the relationship of young people and the Houghton fair goes far beyond the Zipper, giant teddy bears and elephant ears. For hundreds of youngsters, tweens and teens, the fair is the culmination of a year of hard work — be it in the barn, the kitchen, at a sewing machine or at a crafts table. The fair is a time to shine.

Carol Saari, Houghton County Fair manager, said providing for the young people of the county is important to fair organizers. “We actually focus a lot of our activities toward young people,” Saari said, adding the goal is to keep the county fair family friendly. She said an important component of that goal is providing activities and opportunity for youth.

That focus goes beyond the midway all the way to the livestock barns. “Our Junior Market Livestock program is a great opportunity for youth to raise livestock and then sell them at auction.” This year, according to Saari, 34 exhibitors will be selling their animals at the fair. Which is about average participation.

The fair has an exhibition building for youth and adults that is packed with produce, baked and canned goods, art, crafts, photography and more. Saari said last year more than 850 youth exhibits were on display, many from local 4-H clubs. Youth look to earn ribbons, blue, red, white, etc, for their entries. And there’s more than pride on the line for those ribbon winners. There is cash associated with the ribbons … and it adds up. “Last fair, were awarded more than $11,000 in premiums,” Saari said.

In addition to the games, rides and food, Saari said there are free activities and entertainment for the whole family. At 3 – 5 p.m. Saturday, it’s “Kids Fun Day” located in the indoor arena. “The County 4-H will have a variety of craft activities and this year there’ll be snack bags,” Saari said. There’s also a youth talent show at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on the indoor arena stage.

The Houghton County 4-H program has a long history with the fair. Anne Kretschmann, 4-H program assistant for Houghton-Keweenaw County, said the Houghton County Fair offers some special opportunities. ” The Houghton County fair offers 4-H members the opportunity to showcase the projects that they’ve diligently worked on over the last year,” Kretschmann said. “Some of these are animals, but others are exhibiting still exhibits like art, baking, outdoor activities, gardening, and more! The fair also allows 4-H members to practice skills like teamwork and sportsmanship. These skills are important to develop early in life and will serve the community well into the future.”

Kretschmann said more than 60 individual 4-H members are participating in this year’s Houghton County Fair. She said these young people are involved in a variety of ways. “In addition to projects and showing animals at the fair, 4-H members are very busy in other capacities. Community service is a key component in Houghton-Keweenaw 4-H. Every club is helping in often unseen ways at the fair. ”

As mentioned earlier, 4-H members are taking a leading role during Kids’ Fun Day as well as providing activities to fair visitors. “They also assist with a 4-H activity booth in the exhibit building, talking to fairgoers about their 4-H experiences and encouraging the public to get involved. 4-H members are involved in work-bees getting the fairgrounds ready prior to the fair as well as fairground clean-up. The fair takes a lot of hard work to happen successfully,”  Kretschmann said.

As always, there’s plenty of free entertainment on the midway and in both the indoor and outdoor arenas, much of geared toward a younger audience. Outside family entertainment includes Sea Lion Splash, Whispering Pines Mobile Zoo, Monster Truck Throwdown, Moto cross racing, Off Road Derby and the TNT Demo Derby. On the indoor arena stage, as always, there will be performances throughout the fair. In addition Alfy’s Robotic Puppets will be roaming the fairgrounds daily.

Saari said the featured performer on the indoor arena stage on both Thursday and Friday has been brought in to appeal to a younger audience. “We’ve got Kerry Sharp, a hypnotist, performing at 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday,” she said. For more than 20 years, Sharp has been putting on a new show, litterally every time he takes the stage. According to his website, Sharp “performs a comedy hypnosis show with volunteers from the audience. They become the stars of the show. High-energy, hilarious, and always in good clean taste. The true magic of his show is seeing people experience the amazing side of their imagination. The sub-conscious mind is revealed in a powerful and entertaining way. Volunteers are always treated with respect.”

While Sharp’s show is show to delight audiences of all ages, he seems to especially appeal to a younger crowd, “Teens really seem to enjoy this show,” Saari said.

Houghton County Fair ticket prices for youth 6 – 15 are $5 daily and $16 for a four-day pass. Ages five and under are admitted free. The Houghton County Fair opens a 2 p.m. Thursday and ends at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Houghton County Fairgrounds, 1500 Birch St. Hancock. Complete details are available at houghtoncountyfair.com