Photo by Luke Pamer on Unsplash.
The Mid-South Fair has been a staple in the area for 163 years, celebrating agricultural heritage, promoting local talent and commerce, and providing fun and safe entertainment for the whole family. And for the last 10 of those years, Landers Center has been host to the fair and has striven to provide the same opportunities and amenities we remember from our childhoods at the Mid-South Fairgrounds –– plus more.
“We’ve got more ground acts and attractions than ever before, plus a new layout with the main stage in the center of the midway,” says Todd Mastry, executive director of Landers Center.
One of the ground acts, or attractions, the team at Landers is excited about is Dock Dogs, a canine aquatic competition.
“The dogs go through a certain number of different Olympic events,” says Mastry. “There’s a lot of long jumping into the pool catching things.”
Other neat attractions include Butterfly Encounter (a butterfly exhibit), Extreme Raptors (birds of prey show), Kachunga and the Alligator Show, and Megamorph: The Transforming Car.
Children and families have the option of choosing between 43 different midway attractions, like the new midway rides Pharaoh’s Fury Twister, Skyhawk, and Safari Train, and some classics like Alien Abduction (gravity ride), Mardis Gras fun house, and Blizzard (mini roller coaster).
A number of live musical acts keep the entire family entertained, like The Band Perry, Aaron Cole, and tribute artists Almost Elton John and Resurrection (Journey tribute).
Anyone attending the WWE NXT Live this Sunday, September 29th, with a paid ticket may attend the fair at no additional cost.
The fair is running a number of admission and wristband specials to make it more affordable for families to attend. Some of these include Exceptional Kids Day (free admission for special education children and their families) on Wednesday, September 25th and free admission from 4-6 p.m., plus discounted ride wristbands, on Thursday, September 26th. Click here for a full list of specials.
“For folks who have been before, the memories of coming out hearing the music and smelling the smells bring you back all night,” says Mastry. “And you can certainly have two three and possibly four generations in the family come out together and talk about their own, or create their own, memories of the iconic Mid-South Fair.”