Staff photo by Clay Schuldt
The 2021 Brown County Fairground’s midway was full over the weekend with visitors who missed the rides, vendors and social gathering that were lost to the 2020 pandemic.
BROWN COUNTY — The 153rd Brown County Fair was well received as a return to normalcy.
After skipping 2020 because of the COVID pandemic, the fair was able to return with all the same events as in the past. The classic carnival rides, food stands, 4-H shows, animal exhibits, demolition derby and live music were all back.
Many of the fairgoers said that after a year’s absence, they missed the fair food most. The midway was full of food vendors, many of them returning. The Optimist Club’s Cheese Curds stand was extremely popular. Cheese curds sold out on Friday evening, but were resupplied by Saturday.
Optimist Club member Susan Fix said at times the line was 11 people deep.
Les Schultz said every other person said the cheese curds were the best they ever had.
The Minnesota Gladiolus Society was glad to return to the Civic Center. Dozens of gladiolus exhibits saluting New Ulm traditions were on display.
The other end of the Civic Center arena featured commercial booths. One of the more frightening booths was the New Ulm Nightmares booth. It was advertising the 7th Annual Haunted House attraction in October. Organizer Doug Hughes has constructed haunted house attractions at several locations in New Ulm; this year the Brown County Fairgrounds will host two haunted houses. Hughes said one haunted house will be created under the grandstands, and the second will go in the old exhibit hall. The haunted houses are scheduled for Halloween Weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The 4-H shows were well attended. Minnesota Extension representative Janessa Palmer said participation in 4-H events was down this year, but it was a rebuilding year.
“I think people were just happy to be back and have the camaraderie,” Palmer said. “You can’t ask for more than that.”
The Big Ideas trailer returned to the fairgrounds midway. The trailer featured a variety of interactive simulations of trade careers. The simulator allowed kids to operate an excavator, pain, weld or work on a vehicle through VR Google. Joe Schotzko said most of the people coming through the trailer were young kids. He said a two-year-old girl tried the painting simulations and did a pretty good job.
The Saturday night demolition derby had a sold-out crowd. The demolition derby remains one of the most popular events at the fair. A special fall demo derby will be held at the fairgrounds in October called the Pumpkin Smash.
Brown County Public Health also had a presence at the fair with a walk-in clinic, Saturday. People were able to walk in and choose to receive the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Around 10 people took advantage of the walk-in clinic.
The fair was a return to normalcy after an unusual year. The hope is conditionals will allow the fair to return in 2022.
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