The 2025 Woodbury County Fair is just around the corner, and for classic county fair fun, including food, music, animals, rides, and competitions, it's hard to beat the Woodbury County Fair! It's the official county fair for Sioux City, Iowa residents and I think it's probably one of the best county fairs in Iowa. So, here's what parents should know about attending the Woodbury County Fair in 2025:
When is the Woodbury County Fair?
The Woodbury County Fair is usually the first week of August from Wednesday through Sunday, with exhibit check-in for most competitions happening Monday before the fair. This year's fair will be July 30th through August 3rd, 2025. Some early events start at 7 or 8am, but most parts of the fair open at 10am, noon, or later. You can check out the full schedule on the Woodbury County Fair website to make sure you don't miss your favorite events and attractions at the Woodbury County Fair! But here are a few highlights:- Monday 7/28:
- drop off entries for most Open Class & 4-H events
- fair fun not yet open to the public
- Tuesday 7/29:
- drop off for many of the animal events
- judging for most open class events
- fair fun not yet open to the public
- Wednesday 7/30:
- Most fair fun opens to the public at 10am, including open class and 4-H exhibit buildings, Old Town, and much more!
- Family-friendly events in Old Town happening all day!
- Grandstand entertainment in the evening
- Thursday 7/31:
- Kids Day at the Fair--FREE admission for kids and tons of fun activities including two-legged races, frog and toad races, and hot wheels races, make & take crafts, hands-on science discovery station, and more!
- Live music
- Pie eating contest
- Grandstand entertainment in the evening
- Friday 8/1
- Senior Citizens Day & Armed Forces Day: free admission for people over 65, veterans, and active duty military
- Kids events and activities in Old Town throughout the day
- Grandstand entertainment in the evening
- Saturday 8/2
- Kids activities throughout the day
- Grandstand entertainment: in the evening
- Sunday 8/3
- Last day of the fair
- Church at the Fair throughout the morning
- Kids activities throughout the day
- Grandstand entertainment in the evening
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is SO much fun every day of the fair including live music, commercial exhibits, 4H and open class competition exhibits to admire, Bingo, live farm animals both competing and in the petting zoo, and tons of great food!
Where is the Woodbury County Fair?
What do you do at the Woodbury County Fair?
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| Lego building is one of the fun events for kids at the fair |
- Live music including the Bill Riley talent contest, and performances from country stars, a one-man band, and much more!
- Live animals, from prize-winning pigs to exotic critters like gators and zebra (exotic animals vary by year.)
- Fair food starting with coffee in the morning and delighting you all day long with funnel cake, pizza, and much more!
- Carnival rides and games
- Old Town, filled with authentic Woodbury County buildings from a century ago that kids can explore, a petting zoo, and home to many of the fair's best games, crafts, and activities for kids
- 4H and Open Class competitions (for more info on how you can enter, check out my post on entering competitions at the Woodbury County Fair)
- Grandstand acts, which vary slightly by year but have recently included rodeo and ATV rodeo, drag racing, tractor pulls, demolition derby, and bull riding!
Tips for visiting the Woodbury County Fair with Kids:
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| Hot Wheels races are always a blast! |
- Kids can attend the Woodbury County Fair for FREE on Thursday, and on Thursday there are tons of special events for kids, including sack races, three-legged races, and much more!
- Old Town is a great base for families with kids during the fair. There's tons of fun for kids there every day of the fair, including many of the special events for kids, plus food and drink, picnic tables, a petting zoo, and even free A/C inside the general store!
- The best bathrooms for changing babies at the fair are just adjacent to Old Town, next to the barn with antique farm equipment.
- The fair can get HOT so be sure to bring sippy cups, bottles, sunscreen, hats, and anything else your family wants or needs to be comfortable in high temps. While the buildings at the fair are really fun, we always find ourselves spending a fair amount of time outside, and it'd be easy to get sunburnt, overheated, or dehydrated if you aren't prepared. Or it can be amazing, perfect weather! But better to be prepared for heat than not.
- Wagons or strollers work really well at the fair. While there can be muddy spots, especially in the parking lot, if it has rained, most of the fair walkways are either paved, or smooth hard grass paths that work well. Just plan on the wheels getting a bit dirty!
- Any kid can enter fair competitions! Look into the Open Class Events or enter live competitions at the fair like the pie eating contest and Hot Wheels race!
Learn more about the Woodbury County Fair
To find out more about the Woodbury County Fair, visit the Woodbury County Fair website or Facebook page. For really detailed information, look for the "fairbook" on the website--it's 96 pages of information on the fair schedule and competitions! If you're looking early in the spring or summer, you may find the previous year's fairbook--most competitions will likely stay the same, but some rules and times and such may change, so keep that in mind before creating any big entries.Looking for even more county fair fun in Siouxland? Here's my full list of county fairs within 2 hours of Sioux City!
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