From the Cirque Cyber Show’s comprehensive lineup of hula hooping, motorcycle driving and acrobatic twirling, to Ferris wheel rides and prized livestock competitions, nearly 100,000 people journey to Lynden each year for the Northwest Washington Fair.
The fair has become synonymous with funnel cake-filled memories and waning summer nights that lead up to the fall.
This was always the norm for 68-year-old Cindy Norris who grew up on Stremler Drive, one street over from the fairgrounds lot.
“We used to jump over the fence back then, when the fair was a lot more small,” Norris said.
Norris is a staff member for the guest services department, and frequented the former horse racing track in the ’70s, now a grandstand space for derbys, rodeos and artist performances. At 14, Norris volunteered at the fair picking up garbage, a tradition that hordes of youth uphold to this day.
“My dad invented a stick with a nail in the end, and that’s what we had,” she said, in reference to the garbage equipment used at the time.
Situated on short tufts of grass near a carousel ride, Bellingham resident Rachel Barber watched her children soar through the air above, legs dangling underneath their swings. Barber arrived at the fair late Thursday morning with her two children Margaux, 11, and Mip, 7.
Fair attendance was a prominent tradition in her family, said Barber, who is a former Snohomish native who grew up on the fried foods of the Evergreen State Fair 20 minutes away in Monroe, Washington.
Gallery: Fair kicks off for 115th year in Lynden
“My favorite part of the fair is that we keep running into everybody that we know,” said Alicia Rule, a state representative for the 42nd Legislative District and social worker. “It’s a really fun thing that’s out of the ordinary, but we get to see everyone in our community … opening day is always extra special.”
A fifth-generation Whatcom County resident, both of Rule’s great-grandparents immigrated from the Netherlands and owned a farm in Sumas — a nod to the county’s local agricultural roots.
The fair also serves as an informal marker to kick off the upcoming school year, said Rule, who hopes for her children to develop memories akin to the ones she made growing up, full of live concerts and dusted fried dough.
The fair runs until Aug. 17, concluding with a performance from rapper Ludacris as part of the 2024 Bank of the Pacific Grandstand Entertainment Series. A full schedule can be viewed here.
Olivia Capriotti is a Dow Jones summer news intern, specializing in data journalism. Reach her at oliviacapriotti@cascadiadaily.com.
