Exciting upgrades, new events coming to 2025 Holmes County Fair

The 2025 Holmes County Fair will bring improvements and new grandstand events this August. In addition to upgraded grandstand seating, the fair will add a monster truck show to this year’s schedule.

Fair officials announced a major upgrade to the grandstand seating, replacing older, narrow chair-style seats with wider, more comfortable bench seating. This enhancement will provide a better experience for all attendees during the events held in the grandstands throughout the year, especially during fair week.

“We are committed to improving the comfort and accessibility of our facilities, and upgrading the grandstand seating is a key part of that effort,” said Roger Boring, president of the fair board. “This change will allow guests to enjoy events with more space and a better overall experience.”

The estimated $120,000 project is primarily funded through a $106,000 grant provided by the State of Ohio Office of the Department of Development. Every county and independent fair in Ohio had the opportunity to share in these grant funds during 2024.

The fair originally installed used seating in 2016, purchased from a NASCAR track. From the start, it was apparent that the older style seating was too narrow, and the plastic seating has aged and deteriorated. The new aluminum bench seating will match the first two rows of seating installed in 2016. The remainder of the seating is being removed, and the bench seating will be installed by early summer. The grandstands consist of 10 sections, with the center four sections being sold as reserved seating during the fair. Those four sections will have seat backs while the remaining sections will feature standard bench seating.

“Approximately 300 seats will be eliminated with the wider style bench seating, but we will still have over 1,400 seats available,” Boring said.

The board believes fairgoers will be much happier with the improved seating and that reserved seat sales will considerably increase this year as patrons recognize the improvements.

Revamped grandstand
schedule for 2025