FAYETTEVILLE -- Racing pigs. Four-wheelers weaving around barrels. All varieties of fried food on a stick. And fire. Lots of fire.
The Washington County Fair, a tradition since 1857, starts Tuesday and ends Saturday.
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For a list of events, go to mywashcofair.com/sc….
Fair organizers know the public expects certain customs: funnel cakes, Ferris wheels, livestock auctions and mutton bustin'. But fair organizers know they must mix it up to keep people showing up.
For example, social media will bring the fair into the 21st century this year. The fair has the Internet covered with its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, pushing the #MyWCF16 hashtag. There's even a Washington County Fair Snapchat filter.
"I don't know what all that is, but yeah, we got it," said Kendall Pendergraft, president of the fair board.
Senior Citizen Day starts at 10 a.m. Thursday, letting people 62 and older through the gates for free until 5 p.m. The college kids take over after that. University of Arkansas students get in free with a school ID from 5 p.m. until the gates close Thursday.
Organizers want to tap into the social spectrum of some 27,000 students who started school last week. The idea is maybe the ones who didn't go to the fair Thursday will see their friends' Snapchats and head there Friday or Saturday.
"That's the way you communicate with anybody anymore, is through social media," said Natalie Bartholomew, a third-generation fair board member.
A lot of fairgoers don't consider the monumental effort it takes to make the fair happen, Bartholomew said. Organizers work year-round to put the fair together, she said. She estimated about 5,000 volunteers, ranging from board members to livestock judges to high school students, pitch in so a guy can hit a duck with a water gun and win a stuffed animal.
"It all comes to fruition during that one week," Bartholomew said. "By Saturday, everyone's walking around like zombies."
The volunteers all have families, jobs, school or any other life responsibilities. Bartholomew spoke Wednesday while on maternity leave from her banking job, taking care of a sick child and holding a 2-month-old in one hand and the phone with the other.
"It's like a separate family -- you call it the fair family," she said. "There's thousands of volunteers that make it happen every year. None of us get paid; it's all volunteer hours."
Bartholomew gets excited when she thinks about introducing her 2-month-old to the fair this year, that and L.J. Jenkins' Bull Riding Tour. Jenkins, a former professional bull rider, will bring his trademark bucking tour to the fair on Saturday. It's almost more rock concert than bull riding, by Jenkins' account.
"I'm bringing a totally different atmosphere to it," he said. "We're going to bring pyrotechnics, fire and flames. Thirty of the best guys around are going to be there, so we'll buck roughly 40 head of bulls. All-in-all, it's going to be a great event."
Jenkins started the tour this year after suffering a career-ending injury in April 2015 while riding a bucking bull in Nampa, Idaho. He was the PBR World Finals Event champion in 2006. There's more than $100,000 up for grabs between the 20 or so events on the tour, and the overall winner gets a $10,000 bonus care of Springdale Tractor Co., Jenkins said.
The fair has had bull-bucking events before, but not with the caliber of rider Jenkins has on his tour, he said.
The Hambone Express Pig Races start at 5 p.m. nightly for those seeking smaller sport. Participants pick a swine and see if it can win by a snout. The "Olympigs" have returned since being absent last year, Pendergraft said.
The Four-Wheeler Rodeo, a new addition, kicks up dirt at 7 p.m. Thursday. The drivers will maneuver around barrels and other obstacles in the rodeo arena, Pendergraft said.
The night owls can get a $20 armband and have their pick of the rides and games on the midway on Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
And of course, there's the food.
The Ozark Cattlemen's Association will dole out nachos and burgers by the pound, with the main pull being its brisket sandwiches, said Tyler Pendergraft, Kendall's son, who serves as vendor organizer.
"I know I usually go grab one of those every year," he said.
Street Ninja of Bella Vista will offer its Asian mobile cuisine to those looking for something outside the usual fair fare. Shuckin' Delicious will have its parmesan-coated corn on the cob. A coffee booth might seem like an odd choice this time of year, but its combination of flavors and creations brings something unique, Tyler Pendergraft said.
"It kind of fits our program. We try to have a variety of things instead of just a bunch of funnel cake," he said.
NW News on 08/29/2016