Fair History

For more than 150 years, the fair has been a place where our community gathers to celebrate youth, hard work, and the traditions that have shaped Saline County. What began as a simple showcase of local crops, livestock, and handiwork has grown into a multi-day event featuring 4-H and FFA exhibits, family activities, entertainment, food, and a chance for neighbors to come together.

Early Beginnings

The first fair in Saline County seems to have been in 1871, south of Salina at Gebhardt Place. Initially, the fair was an opportunity for residents to display vegetables, flowers, crops, and livestock. By 1876, the fair was referred to as the Oak Dale Park Industrial Exposition and Horse Fair or sometimes referred to as the Central Kansas Industrial Exposition and Horse Show.

B.A. Litowich recalls the early fairs as being held in tents, and that one year it was so windy and dusty that attendees could hardly see. Litowich and another resident recall Dan Wagstaff as being in charge of the early fairs in Salina.

In 1924, construction began on the Agricultural Hall, which opened in 1927. In 1928, Saline County Agent Dwight Hull seems to be responsible for structuring the fair around the newly created 4-H club. The first 4-H-based fair took place in Kenwood Park under the new name of the Mid-Kansas Agricultural and Livestock Show.

The fair was closed for two years during the Depression (maybe 1932 and 1933). The Lions Club brought the fair back in 1934 and kept it going for at least 16 years, until it seems to have been reinstated as a county fair in the 1940s.

Saline County Fair Association

About 1947, the Lions Club 4-H Fair and the county fair combined under the new name of the Saline County Fair Association. During the 1940s, unused barracks buildings from Camp Phillips were brought to Salina to be exhibit spaces for the fair, though one attendee recalled the barracks being incredibly hot. Renovations and expansions occurred throughout the next few decades.

Tri-Rivers Fair

In 1959, the fair changed names to become the Tri-Rivers Fair and Rodeo to reflect the addition of carnival and rodeo events. The name was chosen through a contest, with Donna Simmons submitting the winning name. A demolition derby, draft horse show, and petting zoo were added in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968, Mrs. Carl Lindquist, Mrs. Elwin Collins, and Mrs. O.S. Fent became the first three women to serve on the fair board. The fair started bringing in live entertainment in the late 1970s, with country singers Ray Price and Mickey Gilley being early performers.