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Fun, Fun, Fun

Illustration Sarah Gorski

If you’ve been craving food on a stick and a little brown jug of root beer, you’re in luck. The Ozark Empire Fair starts up July 31 with all your old favorites and some new attractions. “We’ve really crammed a lot of new ideas into the past six months,” says General Manager and CFO Elvin Dunn. Here are a few highlights:

• Topping the list of fun events is a concert with a well-known band. A really well-known band. Does “Surfin’ U.S.A.” ring a bell? The Beach Boys (some old members and some new friends) play the Ozark Empire stage July 31.

• After 15 years with the same midway company, the fair has an all-new midway. “This one is cleaner, and all ticket takers are required to wear uniforms and have background checks,” Dunn says. “It will just be a better environment.” The new midway includes a full-sized roller coaster, which Springfield hasn’t seen in more than 20 years.

• Getting to the fair is easier than ever this year, Dunn says. Parking on the fair property is now free before 3 p.m., and ticket prices dropped from $8 to $6. And the fair opens at 11 a.m. In prior years, the gates didn’t open until 1 p.m. Tickets are available online for the fair and the concerts, Dunn says. “You can go online and actually pick the specific seat you want in the concert,” Dunn says. Tickets are available as will-call or through the mail. In the future, tickets should be available to be printed at home, Dunn says.

• Besides the Beach Boys, also gracing the stage this year is Raven Symone, star of That’s So Raven on the Disney Channel. Symone performs August 1. The Little River Band performs August 4, and country duo Montgomery Gentry hits the stage August 6. “We’ll have bands on the other nights of the fair, but they haven’t been scheduled yet,” Dunn says.

• There is also a stage for free concerts every night of the fair. Scheduled to play at the free stage are M-Dock and The Dennis Lee Show, with more to follow.

“This should be our best fair ever,” Dunn says. “I hope people will come out and see all the neat things we’re doing.”

A DAY AT THE FAIR...

We've put together one full hypothetical day at the fair, with Ozark Empire Fair options to keep you busy from morning to night.

8 a.m. Get a breakfast croissant or giant cinnamon bun on your way to watch the livestock shows.
Remember: Parking is free before 3:00.

11 a.m. The E*Plex opens. View prize-winning photos, weird chocolate cakes or the winner of the Duct Tape Art competition when you visit the Family Living Exhibits in the East Hall.

Lunchtime: Fill up on some barbecue—a long-standing tradition of the Ozark Empire Fair.

1 p.m. Head over to the Midway and ride the full-sized roller coaster, or take a ride down the Dragstrip, one of North America’s largest portable slides. Or challenge your friends and family to a little bumper boat competition.

4 p.m. Find a place to cool off. Misting stations and shaded rest areas can be found throughout the grounds. Cool off with a slice of cheesecake on a stick or a caramel apple.

6 p.m. Eat your way through the fair for dinner. Grab a charbroiled burger or tenderloin sandwich with an overflowing basket of tornado taters. The roasted corn on the cob and onion blossoms are worth their weight in grease.  Grab a jumbo delicious corn dog and a jug of root beer. And don’t forget the fried Oreos.

6:30 p.m. Time for the nightly parade. See a variety of street acts, hear the Missouri State Brass N Sass Band, see the coolest old cars and meet the Fairest of the Fair.

7 p.m. Head to the stage for concerts by the Beach Boys, Raven Symone, Little River Band and Montgomery Gentry. 

9 p.m. Grab dessert in the form of a funnel cake or Pineapple Whip. Truck and tractor pulls and the demolition derby take place the last weekend of the fair.