KOAL News had the chance to sit down with Aubrey Kirkwood and Kourtney Cox from Carbon County Recreation to discuss the upcoming Carbon County Fair, which runs from May 30 to June 1.

Opening up the interview, we asked Kirkwood and Cox about the theme for the year, which is better than before, and what inspired the theme. “We asked the community and our vendors for feedback on what we could do better. And we’ve taken the information that they gave us, and that was the goal of this year’s fair: to make it better than before.” Cox said. Kirkwood added,” One of those big changes was the date. We’re trying a new date, and that’s part of the feedback we received.”

Next, we asked to look back at the recent history of the fair, with this being the second year the fair has been held following a brief hiatus. Kirkwood spoke about what she enjoyed last year: “I love seeing everybody in the community out there enjoying themselves. I think it’s just fun,” Cox added,” We put so much time and effort into this, and it involves the fairground employees, administration, maintenance and community members. And to see people come and experience our vision, that’s really cool.”

When planning a big event like the County Fair, organizers are bound to encounter hurdles. Cox and Kirkwood discussed these obstacles and what was done to overcome them, saying,” I can’t tell you how many ideas we’ve had and said that would be great, let’s pursue it, and then we hit roadblocks. So the main challenge is being able to think on our toes and compensate for changes when they come.”

The fair’s closing day is when you pull out all the stops and have some of your most prominent events. We asked about the excitement they feel about this closing day with both the Hypno Hick and Due West in Concert performing.” We are extremely excited to have the Hypno Hick back. He was just an absolute blast last time. If you’ve never seen him, you have to see him.” Stated Kirkwood. Cox added,” About a week before we were presented with the bands available, and Due West was one that if we could get them, we would love to see them.”

To close, we asked for anything they’d like to leave the public with, where Kirkwood stated,” We’ve got a lot going on this year, and we’re very excited.” Cox closed with,” Registration for almost every activity is still open. If you want to be a vendor, we still have spots; if you want to enter an animal in the animal barn, we have room for that and if you have an art project you want to put in an open exhibit, we have room for that. If you want to participate in the fair, we’ll make that happen.”

The Carbon County Fair is set for May 30, 31 and June 1. A full list of events can be viewed here. Carbon County Rec can be reached at recinfo@carbon.utah.gov or by phone at (435) 636-3702.