Category: Cochranton Community Fair - Cochrantonfair.org

Cochrantonfair.org

Some days......

7/5/2026

Some days things go right, and everything falls into place.
Other days, not so much.
Sometimes it's months that don't quite go the way we'd prefer.
And....................
We had an awesome spring and annual fair breakfast benefit buffet/basket raffle!
We posted the 2026 premium book several weeks ago and the hard copies went out for distribution this past week.
And then..............it came to our attention....
We missed an entire special contest in Department 22 (special contests) -- Section 14, the People Pull! (and trust us, if you've never attended one, this is an event to behold!).
So, today, with egg on our faces, we are updating here (and on our social media sites) the special contest we missed: People Pull.
(Thankfully, it was already on the Program of Events/Schedule for Fair Week, but still we missed the rules.)

2025 Premium and MORE!

6/19/2025

The Cochranton Community Fair Association volunteers are getting geared up and excited for our annual fair!
Dates: August 4-9, 2025.
Our Premium Book is now available online and will soon be available in print too! (We'll update on our social media once the printed books are available so you can look for them!)
We have added some new classes and revamped our Department listings (e.g. Youth Home Show and Adult Home Show use similar sections with different Department numbers)!
Check out the 250 PA Apron Contest (winner eligible for the 2026 PA Farm Show!)!
If you aren't a totally from-scratch baker and like to use a mix, this is your year: The Almost Homemade Cake Contest is here! (Be sure to read the rules!)
Our 2025 theme is derived from the PSACF: Cultivating the Future Generations!
We're taking it further and adding our own byline: Cultivating Winners in Cochranton!
Would you like to get more involved with our tiny but mighty winning community fair?
Drop us an email at [email protected]!

THANK YOU

4/11/2025

Some say it takes a village to raise a child.
It takes a Community to support, sustain, and serve the community and its organizations.
THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

"the rain came down and out came the sun"

8/13/2024

and dried up all the rain.....

Haven't we all heard that nursery rhyme?
Truer words were never spoken.

Monday, August 5th, on our 'soft opening' it rained, a lot. But, the Cochranton Ministerium was able to hold a rainy Vesper service and present an achievement recognition award to Barb McCartney amidst sprinkles, showers, and wet bleachers. Jessica Snyder followed Vespers, opening the evening entertainment with gospel music, even leading to a rainbow in the sky as she sang!   Willie Barry joined Jessica on stage for the 2nd half of the evening and The Honky Tonk Twins sang their hearts out for a crowd that held on through the rain, under porch roofs and in the wet bleachers! 3 Cheers for all who stuck with us!

Tuesday, August 6th....it rained, it poured, and no one had time to snore. Some folks in the area recorded 5 or more inches of rain in their rain gauges. There was a deluge, more than once during the day. Cattle were sent home, sheep departed for home, and the bunnies evacuated from being under water. Thank goodness the cows have long legs, but we have photos of folks with water well above their knees in the cattle barn, people kayaking through the barn, and more. Tuesday it did not flood, it deluged from the sky. The creek did not come up, it was not ground water. It all came from the skies and flushed through the borough and the fairgrounds. We are thankful for volunteers who ran to help in the barns that were hit the hardest, who ran with buckets to save as many exhibits as possible in the home show building (the one that we know needs replaced) when the roof sprung leaks like a sieve. We are thankful for all who stuck it out and those who came to the fair anyway. We are thankful for those who took detours when roads were closed (one 2+mile stretch had multiple mud and rock-slides) to come to the fair. We are thankful for the volunteer first-responders of all branches who maintained safe traffic patterns and secured equipment to open up the roadways (only to do it again later in the day during repeated storms). We felt badly that the Clark Duncan Family Corn-a-ment had to be cancelled due to the continued rains, but safety first (and corn hole is harder to be played with floating boards!). We are thankful there was no loss of life at the fairgrounds and, to date, no reports of animals with related illnesses. Thankful to PA Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Fred Strathmeyer for presenting the Friend of the Fair Award to the family of Johanna Schneider. We are grateful for Julia Neville and her band who hung in with us, set up, ran sound check, and witnessed crazy torrential rains with us. Julia and her crew performed phenomenally and hats off to the sound guy who kept gear from being ruined! The horses were on higher ground and the goats and their humans hung in there, able to stay with us for the entire week. We are thankful fair-goers got to see some critters and pet sweet faces. We missed the cows, sheep, and bunnies, but we are happiest that they are all OK and not lost due to the rushing waters. (and wait til you see the photo of kayakers in the cow barn.... )

Wednesday, August 7th. Parade Day. Mixed clouds and sunshine breezes, and humidity from the residual water from Tuesday's rains, but it was a perfect day for a parade. A walk through the fairgrounds showed the damage done by the massive water that fell on Tuesday. Huge shout-out to the trash crew who had to deal with water that weighed down all the trash barrels and soggy trash. We are thankful for wise decisions to evacuate the cattle, sheep, and bunny tents. A mess to clean up, but life and safety outweigh the cleanup process. Some of us are still not sure how the Horse Department held the Pleasure Show with all the residual water/mud in the arena from Tuesday, but they did! -- And then the horses and their riders made it to the parade, looking beautiful (and not soggy)! Honored to have the family of Johanna Schneider represent her as Grand Marshal; Johanna passed away July 14th and had accepted the G.M. title in the spring. The parade saw a wonderful abundance of floats for the float contest this year! Chairs lined the streets in the early morning hours as people marked their favorite spots from which to watch the parade that evening, always a refreshing sight to see! Michael Christopher with his band performed on the main stage Wednesday evening to the delight of fair-goers who were ready to cast the prior rainy days aside and rock out! From color guards to baton twirlers in the parade, from bands to pageant royalty, the parade folks got to enjoy everything the fair has to offer! Our thanks to all who join us from all over northwest Pennsylvania! Vendors, food and games alike had pulled things back together from Tuesday and fair food abounded! Inflatable rides and pony rides were on tap for the littles and the fair was back on track!

Thursday, August 8th.   Our Horse Department wisely decided to move the Friday Game Show to this afternoon (seeing rain from an Atlantic hurricane predicted for our neck of the woods Friday morning). We improvised, we were winging it, realizing that our planned program of events was no longer planned at all, but that we were overcoming every obstacle thrown our way. (Oh goodness, we're NOT comparing ourselves the USMC, overcoming, adapting, improvising, but we do like those words!) The November Blue Band joined us on stage, all the way from Nashville and rocked the night away! The band members hail from all over western PA and love to come home and do a PA summer tour. In fact, they had hoped to play for us in 2023, but our available dates did not coincide last year, so we planned for 2024! We are glad this year worked out! Tom Atkins, from WJET-TV in Erie joined us to do live weather broadcasts from the fairgrounds; Tom and his cameraman are always welcome (even sampling the yummy fair food!)!

Friday, August 9th.   The Woodsman Competition ran long and was filled with contests and a multitude of competitors!   Hats off to new folks, older folks, season folks, and beginners! Thanks to all who made sure the contest was still able to happen after the crazy week! Brett Allen Morgan took the stage at 7pm for his one-man high-energy show, filled with patriotism, faith, a huge variety of music, and serious dedication!   Veterans were recognized by Brett and we thank him immensely for that! A group of his 'Barnyard Bunchies' joined the crowd too -- Brett has a television show on the Old CBS Network via Rumble, and several of his viewers/followers made the trek to Cochranton!

Saturday, August 10th. Our final day. Abundant sunshine. Teeka K-9 Tricks joined the Spin-ette Twirling Club on stage in the morning to bring their parade talents to the fairgrounds. By 1pm, the pedal tractor pull was underway on the stage with some serious competition for those ages 3-10. Those littles gave the tractor and sled a true workout! Sadly, the fire department returned to the station without a water battle. Maybe after Tuesday's rain, everyone was afraid to get wet? We're still not sure what happened there. The horses headed home in the afternoon and the grounds almost seemed quieter, but not quite. In lieu of the garden tractor pull, our NEW Antique Equipment Department held a tractor parade around the arena!   Exhibits in the home show building were picked up dung the evening and we were thrilled to welcome DANJO to the stage at 7pm too!   They replaced our 2023 Saturday night act for us this year and they rocked the night away, taking a break at just the right time so that everyone could enjoy the fireworks at dusk! DANJO returned to the stage, featuring Barefoot Joe and Danny Kensy, never missing a beat through the closing of the fair.

Sunday, August 11th......True, the 'fair' closed on Saturday night, but our volunteers..... They were there Sunday cleaning up, and Monday, and Tuesday. Did you know there's a lot of work that happens after the fair, not just before the fair? It takes a year to plan each years fair, and we begin as the fair is winding down (we make a suggestion list on a white board to start with). Any leftover hay, straw, and sawdust must be moved (it's a wonder any was left after the Tuesday rains). Pens, stalls, gates, crates, cages are dismantled and stowed away for the next year. The final trash pickup and 'policing of the grounds' is done (even with lots of trash cans, some folks are unkind and still litter). Books and paperwork continue to be balanced so that premiums can be issued. Lest we forget any name, no specific names are listed for any department, just know that we love our team of volunteers who rose above the occasion this year! We've had at least one volunteer in the hospital, another few with health concerns so they had to scale back their duties, and everyone who's totally exhausted. Think of them, if you will, as they returned to work this week, their regular family and other activities. Did you know that many who volunteer take and spend their vacation at the fair helping out? They don't travel far away, they help in their community.
Sponsors, Donors, Givers. Thank you! Without all of you, we could not keep the fair flourishing.

The 2024 fair theme is "Flourishing with Opportunity Rooted in Agriculture" -- our volunteers (of the fair and all those organizations who set up their tents/booths/stands/etc for the week of the fair truly keep the fair flourishing, while our participants keep us rooted in agriculture. The parade theme was "Communities that Flourish" and this year, our fair proved that our community is flourishing!   We're not going to let a little rain ruin our parade, and it did not ruin our fair! Our community members, volunteers, exhibitors, and visitors allowed us the opportunity to flourish once again!
Thank you!

Falling Leaves, Halloween, and Gingerbread

10/25/2023

Autumnal Greetings to everyone in the Cochranton Community and Beyond!
Hoping you all have recovered from the exciting week that was the 2023 Cochranton Community Fair! How can it be over 2 months ago?
Coming up tomorrow night, Thursday, October 26th, the Fair Parade Committee hosts its annual "a creepy kooky cochranton" Halloween display at the fairgrounds from 6pm - 8pm. Trick-or-Treat in the Borough of Cochranton runs 6pm - 7:30pm. The parade characters will have treats and hot cocoa for our little pedestrians and their adult chaperones. Pedestrian traffic only! Here's hoping we even have some fair volunteers joining in with their own Truck-or-Treat at the fairgrounds.
Coming up in November, our Junior Fair Board will be engaging the community with its annual Gingerbread House Competition, being held this year at the United Methodist Church on Adams Street. Details may be found on the Junior Fair Board page about this fun event as part of Christmas in Cochranton, the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.
Also during Christmas in Cochranton, Christmas Tree Lane will find its faithful home at the Cochranton Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall on Adams Street. Complete details can be found on the parade committee's website: www.cochrantonevents.com .
Our fair board, volunteers, committees, and junior board never really slow down. Meetings resume shortly after the fair closes in August and continue throughout the year. Various fun events are on tap, from gingerbread to pumpkins, ghouls to Christmas trees, fund-raising dinners, and so much more!
If you would like to get involved, please contact us!!

OOPS!

8/4/2023

We've found a couple of mistakes in our annual premium book:

CONTACT Doug Wagner for info on the People Pull at 814-853-2207.

VESPERS service on Sunday evening has, due to unforeseen circumstances, been cancelled by the Cochranton Ministerium, with regret. Volunteers may still gather for prayer that evening if willing and able. VESPERS will return in 2024.

OTHER NEWS: Parade application deadline was July 15th. Please plan to attend as a spectator only if you missed the deadline. Apply early in 2024!
Questions for parade? Email [email protected]

Questions about exhibits? Email [email protected] or [email protected]

GREAT line-up of music next week!! 6 NIGHTS of AWESOME ENTERTAINMENT!!

The fair's telephone number is: 814-373-8038.

Visit our CONTACT PAGE on this website for more contact points!! Contact

What's Happening!!

7/23/2023

Page numbers refer to more detailed information in the Fair Premium Book found here on the website.

Plans, Bands, and.....

6/3/2023

The fair's website is undergoing updates....
Thank You for your patience!!
We are announcing this year's evening entertainment, one night, one entertainer at a time. New faces, familiar names, surprises!
Following the pandemic, we've had to adapt, accept some change, and move on forward.
Fair plans are happening, Cochranton is a happening town!
The parade website is also undergoing updates, again, your patience is appreciated!
Premium books are at the publisher and will be available ASAP.
We're always happy to accept new volunteers - be prepared to get your ears wet -- we'll find a job for you!
Stay tuned, watch for new looks, new faces, and our social media for updates!
Thanks!!

That's a Wrap, But Not Edible

10/22/2022

The 2022 Fair Week was AMAZING!
Thank you to everyone who volunteered, planned, attended, fed, made, sewed, painted, cleaned, picked up trash, marched, smiled, laughed, hugged, pulled, sawed, threw, sprayed, walked, guarded, viewed, zoomed, twirled, carried, hauled, scored, entered, wrote, clicked, filmed, broadcast, tasted, petted, giggled, worked, traveled, hitched, showed, groomed, awarded, calculated, sang, strummed, drummed, flipped, served, woofed, mooed, wiggled, neighed, baa'ed, blatted, rolled, stomped, tasted, and so much more!!!!
Plans are in motion for the 2023 fair, the board, officers, members/committee persons, department heads are meeting and planning. If you would like to get involved, please contact us! (Many points of contact are listed on our "Contacts" page! We would love to have YOU join US!
Great things are in the works, including fund-raising and planning for our new (and desperately needed) Home Show building! Are you good at grant-writing, fund-raising, even donating? Join us!
Would you like to become a vendor selling your wares next August at one of the few FREE ADMISSION fairs left in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Contact us!
Would your non-profit organization like to put up a booth or tent during fair week? Contact us!
(Please follow our submission deadlines, and don't wait til the last minute! We are all volunteers who have jobs, families, and other surprises in our lives too.)
Do you love a parade and want to participate? Contact the parade committee!!
Would you love to have your livestock entered to win pretty ribbons? Follow our guidelines and contact us!
Would you like to lend a hand painting, cleaning, building, picking up trashing, coordinating an event, or even something else? Contact us! Join us! Don't delay!
We are the Cochranton Community Fair - and it takes a community!!
2022 fair week has passed, so that's a wrap, but it isn't edible and the work and planning never stop. 2023 is already scheduled and in planning stages. The fun (and the work) never stop!

Quoting from our Facebook page on August 7, 2022:
"The day after the end-of-fair fireworks at the Cochranton COMMUNITY Fair.
My hat is off to the volunteers who were back at the fairgrounds this morning, picking up trash, tearing down stalls, and organizing a multitude of things, along with organization volunteers who were cleaning and packing up their individual booths!
ALL of them completely exhausted and drained from this week's heat and humidity, but there they were, continuing the job.
Thank you, too, to everyone who came and supported the non-profit organizations, the commercial vendors and enjoyed the animals, different events, and exhibits! Your support uplifts your COMMUNITY in more than one way!
Thank you to those who purchased raffle tickets from various organizations, including the fair (the fair desperately needs a new home show building)!
The COMMUNITY at large does not see the behind-the-scenes work that it takes for a week long event like the fair (and the 12 months of planning that begins immediately after this year's fair), but it is good to know that many appreciate and enjoy the event.
The fair is always looking for volunteers of any age, but younger volunteers are essential as the long-time volunteers reach 'retirement' ages.
You are never 'too busy' to become part of a great team! Our current volunteers have full-time jobs, children, grandchildren, and are involved in other organizations. We are real people just like you! Some of us are retired from professional jobs, but instead of stopping all activity, they are volunteering time for our beloved COMMUNITY. Some even have health issues, but we work with and around those.
You can too! Being a volunteer is one of the best jobs you will ever love and talk about at other gatherings! Volunteering sets a great example to your friends and next generations too!
If the fair isn't your thing, consider one of our many COMMUNITY organizations that set up booths and tents at the fair! The main thing is to get involved and support your COMMUNITY!
If you are interested in getting involved, come to our next fair board meeting, Wednesday, September 21st! (location to be announced) and express your interest and share your talents!
Kudos to all,
Rita Preston, Board Member and Fair Parade Secretary

2022

2/12/2022

2022 is here, winter hanging on, but spring is on the way!
Plans are underway for the 2022 Cochranton Community Fair!
Junior Fair Board applications are available (posted on their page, click here)!