Fair off to a cool start, but will heat up

The Chase County Fair is well under way, but there’s still plenty ahead, including a record breaking concert Saturday night.
Friday’s Wrangler Round Up for sponsors drew a crowd of 380. The meal was donated by Casey Francis and prepared by Zoetis.
Entertainment was Family Feud-styled Chase County Feud by Dave Lewis’ Game Show Road Show.
Horses and riders battled a bit of a breeze during the 4-H Horse Show Sunday, but were able to avoid the worst of the week’s hot temperatures.
Eleven events took place in Allo Arena for the show that ran for most of the day.
In contrast, Monday morning’s 4-H Poultry, Rabbit and Companion Animal Shows went quickly and were done ahead of schedule.
The evening’s barrel racing had over 90 entries.
Large animals were weighed in and settled into their spots Tuesday morning.
The old Expo building filled with entries as well.
The Ranch Rodeo entertained a crowd Tuesday evening.
Large animal shows started Wednesday morning with the Swine, Sheep and Goat Shows and the fair grounds stayed hopping through the rest of the day with the Turtle Races, Prairie Plains CASA-sponsored Frozen T-Shirt Contest, Champion Community Center Pie and Ice Cream, Mutton Bustin’, Dog Keg Pull and Draft Horse Obstacle Competition and the Lone Star Jubilee Christian Family Show.
Three full days ahead
Fair goers can catch their breath Thursday with the 4-H Beef show in the morning and Heartland Pulling Series Tractor Pull as the day’s main events.
Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees Friday and Saturday, the fair’s two busiest days.
Friday starts off with 4-H events, the Rocket Launch and Round Robin contests, and stays busy with the Pedal Tractor Pull, horseshoe tournament, free shows in the Open Air Pavilion, as well as the 4-H Livestock Auction.
Saturday begins bright and early with the Fair Run.
The parade, “Come Home to the Chase County Fair,” starts at 10:30 a.m.
The day goes on with the Young Farmers and Ranchers BBQ, CarNutz and ABATE Motorcyle shows and competitions that include cornhole and the dance contest.
Concerts promise to be showstoppers
Tickets for Saturday’s Ian Munsick and Megan Moroney concert have already broken the fair’s sales record with over 3,300 tickets sold. Last year’s Scotty McCreery concert sold over 3,100 tickets which broke Old Dominion’s 2017 record.
Burke said the fair board is projecting a sellout with 3,700 tickets sold.
While ticket sales started out slow, Burke said ticket sales went through the roof over the summer and Munsick and Moroney “blew up.”
The fair board is seeing ticket sales from across the country, California to Alabama and Texas to North Dakota.
Munsick and Moroney are a unique combination, as are Friday’s performers Black Stone Cherry and The Read Southall Band, that are attracting concertgoers. CCF’s ticket prices are very reasonable as well.
If tickets are available, they can be purchased up to one hour after the concert begins at ticket booths on the fairgrounds or online.
Ticket sales for Friday are on par with recent years.
Burke said people are going to be pleasantly surprised by the bands.
Romeo Entertainment has a good idea of what’s going on in the music industry and helps get the right acts to Imperial, Burke said, adding the company has come a long ways since the Chase County Fair was its first customer in 1953.