Honoring its roots, Adams County Fair gears up for its 83rd year

MENDON, Ill. — ‘Experience the Difference’ at the 2025 Adams County Fair as it kicks off Wednesday, July 23, at the fairgrounds north of Quincy. The 83rd Adams County Fair runs through Tuesday, July 29.

Highlights of this year’s fair include a concert with country music icons Sara Evans and Mark Wills on the evening of Saturday, July 26, sponsored by Gem City Ford Lincoln and SIU Center for Family Medicine in Quincy. Other musical acts include “Silver Bullets,” “Stealin’ Copper,” “Mugshot Bandits,” and Fuedin’ Hillbillys. These acts will take over the Buss Ag Services stage inside the Beer Garden throughout the fair.

New this year, the Adams County Fair is bringing a brand new attraction to the grandstand on Thursday, July 24. The event, called Figure 8 Racing, combines a dirt track race with the crashes of a demolition derby. The track will be in a figure eight, which creates nail-biting excitement at each turn of the track. Action begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night, July 24 of the fair. Thursday is also Veterans’ Night. Veterans and current military service men and women get into the fair free with military ID.

The Adams County Fair has a rich agricultural history that will be celebrated as Adams County celebrates its Bicentennial this year. The cover of the 2025 fair book features a timeline of history for the Adams County Fair. The first fair was held in 1876 in Camp Point. After that, the fair moved from community to community until the 1940s when it found its home in Mendon. In 1950, land in the current fair location was purchased by the fair board.

The Adams County Bicentennial Committee will unveil the new Heritage Farms Pavilion at this year’s fair, which honors 150 year family farms. Other events during the Adams County Fair will recognize longtime churches and businesses in honor of the Bicentennial. In addition to this, the Bicentennial traveling semi exhibit, featuring a timeline of the county, will be parked at the fairgrounds throughout fair week.

Something that makes the Adams County Fair different than most fairs is its focus on keeping free activities available to children and families inside the fair. The ‘Family Fun Zone’ is a place where kids and parents can enjoy free entertainment throughout the day. Inside will be everything from a petting zoo, circus shows, a corn play pit and free agricultural activities from the University of Illinois Extension. Find a full schedule of events online at www.adamsfair.org.

“We strive to make this a place where families can make memories for a lifetime,” said fair board member Melissa Shriver-Hackamack. “We know parents want a night out with the kids, but it can really impact their wallets. Our fair board members understand and that’s why we want to provide as much free entertainment as possible. We also want our fair experience to be something different you can’t get anywhere else,” said Shriver-Hackamack in a press release.

The fair kicks off Wednesday, July 23, with pageant night sponsored by Prairieland FS. This year 15 local ladies are competing for the title of Miss Adams County Fair Queen. This year also marks the 60th Miss Adams County pageant for the fair. The Little Miss and Mr. Adams County Fair pageant precedes that event with more than 20 contestants. Another highlight of that evening will be the 10th annual Sweetheart of Adams County pageant.

Sweetheart of Adams County is a unique opportunity for individuals of all ages with intellectual or physical disabilities to experience being a queen or king for a day. The Sweetheart of Adams County pageant is open to all ages from 0 to 99 and is meant to give individuals a chance to focus on their abilities and gain life skills, self-confidence and happiness.

Cowboys from across the country will converge on the Adams County Fair on Friday, July 25, for an exciting night of bronc busting and bull riding in the grandstand arena. Action begins at 7:30 p.m. Little Jess Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Nextran Truck Center and Phibro Animal Health sponsor all the rodeo action the Friday night of the fair.

The fair also welcomes back popular events like the adult and youth sand volleyball tournaments Saturday and Sunday, plus the Grace Race on Saturday morning.

Tractor pull action takes over the grandstand arena on Sunday and Monday, sponsored by R.D. Shaffer Trucking, Fuller Fertilizer, Birkey’s Farm Store and Poage Auto Plaza. Tractors are coming in from all over, thanks to a big-time prize purse.

As always, a crowd pleaser is the Demolition Derby on Tuesday, July 29. The demo derby is sponsored by Quincy Medical Group.

Nightly shows at the horse arena on the north side of the grounds is another popular feature of the Adams County Fair. In fact the Adams County Fair hosts the second highest number of horse shows in the state — only behind the Illinois State Fair. That goes to show Western Illinois has some of the best riding, wrangling and roping cowboys and cowgirls in the state. You can check them out for yourself for free every night of the fair.

Another livestock exhibit making waves at the Adams County Fair this year is the rabbit barn. Last year’s fair saw record numbers of bunnies as more than 650 rabbits were shown by 4-H and open class exhibitors. The bunny business is alive and well in Adams County…and provides for a hoppin’ good time.  All animal exhibits, like the bunny barn, are open to the public so children and adults alike can experience animal agriculture at its finest.

The Adams County Fair Board works to bring a variety of food to fairgoers. New this year will be a Mexican food truck, in addition to fair favorites and other local food trucks featuring everything from fried fish to smoked BBQ.

The carnival area at the Adams County Fair offers armbands for purchase nightly, which allows the customer unlimited rides for that evening. There are carnival deals offered two afternoons of the fair.

Find the latest schedule of events at www.adamsfair.org. You can also follow all the action on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Find your fair adventure from your phone at adamsfair.org.