The Pike County Fair opens at 6 p.m. today at the Pike County Fairgrounds on Highway 231 south of Troy. The fair is sponsored annually by the Troy Shrine Club.

Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children ages 6 through 11. Armbands that offer unlimited rides are available on the midway.

“This year we have a new carnival promoter, Amusement of America out of Georgia, said Homer Homann, Troy Shrine Club president. “With this new carnival, we’ll have a bigger and better midway with more kiddy rides for the younger children and more thrilling rides for the older folks. The merry-go-round is a favorite of the little kids and this year we’ll have a big carousel for the little kids. We’ll have a lot of new rides so it will be a completely different carnival from the past. We invite everybody to come out and join the fun.”

Booths are set up inside the main building and showcase area businesses, clubs and organizations. The “blue ribbon” gallery exhibits the needlecraft, woodwork, artwork, photography, produce and canned goods that friends and neighbors have been submitted for judging.

The livestock competition takes place in the barn just off the midway.

The ribbons have been awarded and Homann said it’s a real honor to be a blue ribbon winner at the county fair.

“Each night we have entertainment in the pavilion for the enjoyment of everyone, at no extra charge,” Homann said. “This year, we have a great lineup and anyone who enjoys good music will not want to miss our entertainers.”

Broken String Bluegrass Band will get the entertainment off to a toe-tapping, hand-clapping start tonight, followed by the Alcazar Shrine Band on Wednesday and Johnny Barron and Waterfall on Thursday.

Barron and his band will be back on Friday along with the SheBANG! Championship Cloggers and The Classics will close out the entertainment on Saturday.

Homann said the county fair comes only once a year and it’s a tradition well worth keeping. “There’s just nothing like the county fair.”