SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — The Sioux Empire Fair, for the first time, is waving entry fees for most livestock competitions.
The Fair’s Scott Wick says its to give back a little to farm families struggling in the ailing ag economy.
“You have two, three kids and bring 12 animals, and pay all the entry fees, it gets a little expensive.”
Wick tells the Minnehaha County Commission that the fair has been getting calls from farm families asking is the fee waiver for real, so he expects more entries.
The plan is for the fair to continue the fee waiver in future years.
“We want to become that niche fair, that boutique setting, to where people are not going to Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa with their animals, but staying close to home because it is more affordable for them to show.”
South Dakota’s biggest fair opens Friday, August 2 at the W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds in Sioux Falls.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the world’s biggest, also opens on August 2, so South Dakota will have two huge events going on at the same time at opposite ends of the state.
Get all the fair details, including schedules and entertainment:
http://www.siouxempirefair.com/
