COALTON, Ky. -- The Boyd County Fair has come a long way in 20 years.

The fair starts at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, and runs through Saturday at the Boyd County Fairgrounds off Addington Road and U.S. 60 West.

"We started on a borrowed field on reclaimed strip-mine property," Yvonne Greene, fair board president, said Monday. "Now we have seven barns, a horse arena and two buildings. The Boyd County Extension Department has done some fantastic things up here. ... It's really blossomed."

General admission is $8 and seniors 60 and older pay $7. Parking costs $1. The admission cost covers carnival rides, said Ellen Keaton, a fair volunteer. The fair opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at noon Saturday.

"We have a lot of things planned for the fair this year," Keaton said. "We have OCW wresting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, a gospel sing night starting at 7 p.m. Thursday with Chuck Compton from Logan, W.Va., and Sunday Drive from Means, Ky."

The Bar W. Rodeo bull riding is set for 8 p.m. Saturday at the horse arena. A talent competition is set for Friday night with Stephen Salyers of Catlettsburg as a guest judge. Salyers is scheduled to perform at 8:45 p.m. Friday. Melvin Goins also is scheduled to perform Saturday night along with Ned Crisp and Bottom Line. Music City Brass from Atlanta will perform at various venues Thursday through Friday.

Demolition derbies are planned at 7 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday. The Friday night demolition derby is for compact and mid-size vehicles while Saturday is for full-size vehicles. A mud bog, a 120-foot-long, mud-filled trench, will tempt some people for a cost of $25. It is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.

Lyndall Harned, the Boyd County extension agent, said about 100 4-H members and 175 animals will be participating in fair week.

"We're growing," he said. The animal projects at the fair started eight years ago with one calf and one sheep. "We're up to seven barns now," he said. "We have two new barns this year."

The livestock sale is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. The meat goes to River Cities Harvest and is turned over to organizations like Hope's Place and Community Kitchen in Ashland, Harned said. "We donated 2,200 pounds of meat last year," he said.

The cattle, sheep and rabbit shows are set for 6 p.m. Tuesday and the hogs, goats and chicken show is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.

"There's also something going on in the horse arena every night," Harned said.

A full schedule of events is available online at boydcountyfair.com.

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