There’s something wonderfully old-fashioned about a county fair.
You can hear the midway before you reach it. Somewhere nearby, a kid is trying to win an oversized stuffed animal. The smell of fried dough is competing with barbecue, livestock are being led into the show ring, and somebody has spent months growing a vegetable that’s about to be judged far more seriously than most of us would ever imagine.
That’s the Washington County Fair, which continues through Sunday, August 16, at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Richmond.
And if you’re looking for the classic county-fair experience, this one delivers.
Come for the Rides. Stay for Everything Else.
Rockwell Amusements fills the midway with rides and carnival games, including plenty for younger children and bigger attractions for those who prefer their summer entertainment several stories off the ground.
But don’t make the mistake of spending your entire visit there.
The Washington County Fair has remained deeply connected to Rhode Island agriculture since it began in 1967.
Walk through the barns and you’ll find dairy and beef cattle, sheep, swine, goats, rabbits, poultry, working steer, and young 4-H exhibitors showing animals they’ve spent months raising.
Elsewhere around the grounds you’ll find horse and livestock pulls, tractors, agricultural exhibits, flowers, vegetables, baking, photography, crafts, quilts, and all the blue ribbons that make a county fair a county fair.
And Then There’s the Music
Once evening arrives, things get considerably louder.
The Main Stage features nationally known country artists throughout the fair, with Mark Wills headlining Friday night and Jamie O’Neal and Ty Herndon taking the stage Saturday.
Sunday closes things out with rising country singer-songwriter Zach John King.
Best of all, the concerts are included with general fair admission.
Let the Kids Get a Little Messy
Some of the most entertaining events don’t require a stage at all.
There are potato sack races, egg tosses, milking contests, a pedal tractor pull, corn shucking and, perhaps most importantly, pie-eating contests.
Hands behind your back.
Face in the pie.
Dignity temporarily suspended.
Exactly as it should be.
Come Hungry
Of course, no county fair is complete without fair food.
More than 130 food and craft vendors fill the grounds, with everything from barbecue and seafood to steak sandwiches, strawberry shortcake, lemonade, desserts, and the fried foods we somehow convince ourselves don’t count when they’re eaten at a fair.
That’s another rule of summer.
Don’t question it.
A Rhode Island Summer Tradition
The Washington County Fair started in 1967 and eventually grew into the sprawling five-day celebration you’ll find in Richmond today.
A lot has changed since those early fairs. The midway is bigger. National recording artists perform on the Main Stage. Thousands of people walk through the gates.
But underneath all of that, the reason for having a county fair hasn’t really changed.
It’s still a place where a kid can proudly walk an animal into a show ring, somebody’s homemade pie can win a ribbon, families can watch draft horses pull an impossible-looking amount of weight, and everyone can finish the night beneath the lights of the midway.
That’s what a county fair is supposed to feel like.
Planning to go? See our complete Washington County Fair 2026 Guide for admission, parking, ride specials, concerts, daily activities, livestock shows, contests, food, and everything you need to know before heading to Richmond.
