Gwinnett County Fair 2017 Now Open

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gwinnett County residents still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Irma have something fun to look forward to — the county fair opened on Thursday.

An annual sign of the transition from summer to fall, the fair's exhibit hall and carnival opened at 5 p.m. Thursday. The fair, in Lawrenceville, will run through next Sunday, Sept. 24.

Now in its 22nd year, the fair will offer its usual array of livestock shows, beauty pageants, concerts and other live performances alongside a carnival midway packed with a 56 rides, including two Ferris wheels, a merry-go-round and a full array of other more adventurous rides.

Click here to watch a "bird's eye" video of the Gwinnett County Fair.

Hurricane Irma may have downed trees and power lines and knocked out power for tens of thousands of people in Gwinnett County this week, but the fair's organizers say their preparations weren't overly hindered and everything will be ready to go come Thursday evening.

"We had a couple things turn over, but other than that nothing," Gwinnett County Fair manager Dale Thurman told the Gwinnett Daily Post. "We didn’t lose power or anything like that."

Thurman told the paper that the fair's crews were working ahead and had most of the rides and other major properties already set up when Irma rolled through metro Atlanta as a tropical storm.

Here's your fact sheet for the 2017 Gwinnett County Fair:

Dates: The Gwinnett County Fair will run from Sept. 14 through Sept. 24.
Hours: The Gwinnett County Fair's exhibit hall will be open 5-10 p.m. and the carnival from 5-11 p.m. weekdays. Saturdays, the hall will be open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. and the carnival from 11 a.m.-midnight. On Sundays, exhibit hall will open 1-9 p.m. and the carnival 1-10 p.m.
Address: The fairgrounds are located at 2405 Sugarloaf Pkwy. in Lawrenceville.

Tickets: Admission is $10 for ages 12-64. Senior and youth (ages 6-11) admission is $5. Children under 5 are admitted free with a paid adult. Admission is cash only, but ride tickets and stamps may be purchased with cash or credit cards. An unlimited ride hand stamp is $17. Twenty individual ride tickets are available for $10. They may be purchased in advance at Walgreen's through Friday.

Events: Click here for a daily schedule of special events at the fair. The Miss Gwinnett pageant is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. Youth pageants are scheduled for 1-5:15 p.m. on Sunday. Check the schedule for specials on ride tickets and other discounts.

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Photo courtesy Gwinnett County Fair