The Annual SEMO District will open on Saturday, September 6 in Cape Girardeau. The fair began 159 years ago as a way to improve farming techniques and promote products. It began as a celebration of agriculture, and it still is.
The theme is “sew it, grow it, show it.”
Participants can enter their handmade garments, crops and livestock to compete at the fair.
Many of the competitions and exhibitions will take place inside the Arena Building. Quilts and other garments will be on display. Also on display will be flowers, photography and baked goods.
The livestock competitions will take place outside. In these contests horses, swine, calves mini-mules, rabbits and guinea pigs will be judged.
There will be an antique tractor pull this Saturday.
"We’ve got one of everything for everybody, and there’s plenty of free things to do on the fairgrounds,” said Pete Poe, the advertising and promotions representative for the fair.
This year there will be 28 amusement rides, Poe said, that will range in size from kiddie to mega-rides.
Several vendors will sell traditional fair foods like funnel cake.
There will also be live music and shows. Musical artists include Jeremy Camp, Clay Walker, Chris Janson and more. River Radio will also host the 14th Heartland Idol.
This year’s fair will feature three family shows. “Wild about Monkeys” and “Woody’s Menagerie and Circus of Wildlife Show” are educational shows about animals. “Richard Holmgren and his Flying Debris” combines comedy, magic and juggling.
The fair is more than a chance to chow down on funnel cake. The increase in visitors is a temporary boost to Cape Girardeau’s economy.
Chuck Martin, the executive director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the economic impact is significant when you consider all the people who attend the fair each year.
“You not only have groups that are traveling with the fair itself, but you also have a lot of groups - Grace Methodist Church is one that certainly comes to my mind - that has had a food booth at the fair for a number of years.” Martin said. “I would dare say thousands eat at that food tent each year.”
Many of the people who come to Cape Girardeau, specifically for the fair, may also visit surrounding businesses while in town, which is another way the town benefits economically, he explained.
The SEMO District fair will last from Sept. 6 to Sept. 13. A full schedule of events and activities can be found at semofair.com.