By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Summer has arrived and that means the Barton County Fair Board is ramping up for this year's fair which will run from July 6-11. This year's fair will feature some popular musical acts and a variety of new events.
"We're trying to get things together," said Barton County Fair Board President Charles Atkinson. "We're posting everything online. We've still got some things we're planning on doing that we're working on real hard to get things together, getting all our volunteers and vendors lined up. We just kind of making all the pre-fair things happen so we can put on a good fair this year."
The fair begins with 4-H exhibit check-ins on the morning of July 6. Action really kicks off Thursday, July 7 with Christian band Stars go Dim performing on the Farmers Bank & Trust Stage.
"That's a great Christian group that's played all over the radio," Atkinson said. "That's a free concert so we're excited to have them come in."
Friday's country concert will feature Tate Sevens with special guest Jadynce Schroeder. The big rock n' roll show Saturday night will feature a pair of tribute bands with Silver Bullet playing Bob Seger music, and Hells Bells closing out the night with AC/DC songs.
"(Hells Bells has been) here before and we had a really good time with them," said Atkinson. "On our country side, we have Tate Stephens coming in. He won the X Factor the first year, so he's got some music out there that's really good. We have a local talent Jaydence Schroeder who's coming in to open for him. We're really excited about bringing our local talent in to help us out."
This year's fair will not include a carnival as that remains a year-to-year issue, but the five days of fun will include many new events. Visit bartoncountyfair.com for a full schedule, and watch greatbendpost.com for more stories about this year's fair.