Saturday's Activities at the Central Wisconsin State Fair

Saturday, August 23rd, 2025 -- 6:00 AM

The Central Wisconsin State Fair is underway and runs through this Sunday, August 24th. 

Cost for daily gate passes is $10 for adults 13 and older, $5 for children 5-12, and children 4 and under are free. They do have a BOGO special today, so buy one adult pass and get the 2nd adult or child pass for free. The carnival opens at Noon today and it’s Kids Day, so pay one price for wristbands from Noon-5pm for $35. Vendors are open 11am-9pm.

Some other fun and performances in the Family Entertainment tent today include rock and folk music performed by Russ Reiser 11:30am-1:30pm. Levi Ballenger will bring his high energy music to the stage from 2pm-4pm.

Fire on High will bring country and classic rock music to the fair from 4:30pm-6:30pm. Finally, rock and roll party band Whiskey Ditch will perform from 9pm-midnight.

Dominguez Attractions, a proud circus family, will have shows for adults and kids throughout the fair. Their shows will be at 2pm-2:30pm, 5pm-5:30pm, and 6:30pm-7pm today.

Kenny Ahern will bring his zany comedy shows to the fair. His shows will be from 2:30pm-3pm, 3:30pm-4pm, and 5:30pm-6pm today. Pleasure Valley Pig and Duck Races will be happening at the fair too. They will have shows from 12:30pm-1pm, 3pm-3:30pm, 4:15pm-4:45pm, and 6pm-6:30pm today.

Pedal Tractor Races take place at 1pm for those ages 4-7. Registration starts at Noon. Balloons by Kevin will also be providing fun balloons for kids from 2pm-7pm and fairgoers may run into Ta-Da Robots each day of the fair as well.

The Draft Horse Show is happening today. Haltering will be at 10am and hitching will be at 2pm. The Wonders of Wisconsin Exhibit will return to the Lang Information Center this year with the theme of Wonders of Wisconsin Wildlife.

The Sample Shack will also return, giving Wisconsin residents the chance to sample some of Wisconsin’s awesome products. Contests in the Lang Information Center will be back this year. Today the Cherry Spitting Contest continues, which takes place at 3pm. Participating contestants will compete in age groups 10-17 and 18 and older.

For the Junior Fair, the building opens at 8am, judging includes electricity at 9am, woodworking at 9:30am, and mechanical science at 12:30pm. Open Class judging includes dairy goat at 8am; dairy, dairy goat, sheep, meat goat, and rabbit at 9am; draft horse halter classes at 10am; and llama costume class, obstacle course classes, and draft horse hitch classes all at 2pm.

The grandstand will be rocking out tonight with hard rock band Halestorm. Tickets are $45 for grandstand, $60 for trackside, and $90 for VIP. Tickets include gate admission if purchased before entering the fair.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.