Monmouth County Fair returns for its 33rd year

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Fairgoers are busy getting ready for the Monmouth County Fair's opening night, tonight at 5 p.m. at the East Freehold Park showgrounds, Kozloski Road, between Route 33 and Route 537.

The county fair remains a tradition, with this year marking its 33rd year of providing family fun. With the Monmouth County 4-H Association remaining a key part of the fair, fairgoers can get a chance to see farm animals up close - from rabbits and sheep to heifers, and even racing pigs. The 4-H Association's 2007 fair theme is "Get Caught in Our Web."

Among the vendor tents, fairgoers can look and learn in the Home and Garden tent, where they will find homemade cookies, vegetables, cakes, condiments and more.

According to a press release, the agricultural heritage of the Monmouth County Fair is demonstrated at the Historic Longstreet Farm and Historic Walnford tent. Each day the staff and volunteers of the Monmouth County Park System's 1890s living-history farm at Holmdel Park and the 18th-century mill village at Crosswicks Creek Park will hold a barn-raising program. Using mortise, tenons and pegs, a small building will be raised using timber frame construction - a style of building that was the most common type of construction used until the mid-19th century.

The fair will feature amusement rides, weather permitting. This year's fair offers three blocks of time where fairgoers may opt to purchase ride wristbands - July 25 from 5-11 p.m.; July 27 from 5-11 p.m. and July 29 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The fair runs from July 25-29; from 5-11 p.m. July 25-27; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 28; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 29. General admission is $6 per person; children 12 and under are free at all times.

For more information call (732) 842-4000 or preview and download a copy of the fair schedule at the Internet Web site www.monmouthcountyparks.com.