Stella Spliethof with her goat Berkley at the Josephine County Fairgrounds Tuesday.

The Jackson County Fair is over, but if you haven’t had your fill of carnival rides, midway games and livestock competitions, the neighboring Josephine and Siskiyou county fairs are set to begin Wednesday.

To the south of the Rogue Valley, the Siskiyou Golden Fair in Yreka, California, will run from Wednesday, Aug. 9, to Sunday, Aug. 13, with a theme of “Siskiyou Nights and Carnival Lights.”

To the northwest, the Josephine County Fair in Grants Pass will run at the same time with a theme of “Fun for the Whole Herd.”

The Golden Fair, at the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds on Fairlane Road in Yreka, will feature a new carnival this year after the contract with its previous provider ran out, said Cliff Munson, chief executive officer for the Siskiyou County Fair Board. The new carnival will have a cashless pay feature and about 25 unique rides, he said. Monster trucks will also be part of the fair for the first time. 

The fair is open from 3 p.m. to midnight Wednesday, 10 a.m. to midnight Thursday-Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

For the first time in a decade, the fair board is putting on a free concert, Munson said. A tribute band offering the music of Def Leppard and Journey will perform.

“After the years of trauma — or whatever you want to call it — the fair board decided we wanted to do something nice for everyone, to celebrate,” he said.

This year will be the first full fair the county has enjoyed at its own fairgrounds in three years, Munson said. In 2020, the pandemic shut down all but the youth livestock show. In 2021, COVID restrictions kept things lean. In 2022, the McKinney Fire forced another canceled fair.

The Expo in Central Point opened its doors to its neighbor to the south last year because of the fire, with the Junior Livestock Market Animal Show heading up Interstate 5. The gesture of generosity was wonderful, Munson said, but it was also the reflection of a long relationship. The two fairs often share decorations and ideas. 

“This year when I was up there, I noticed they’d implemented some of the things we showed ’em about how we do things down here,” he said.

The highest number of out-of-county visitors come from Medford and the Rogue Valley, Munson said.

He is proud of the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds, which feature a grassy expanse with long rows of sycamore trees over 50 years old.

“If you want to come down for a shady day at a really homey fair — this would be it,” he said.

Traditional fair fun will be available in spades with exhibits of local pies, quilts, the Junior Livestock Show and the Rodeo Shootout event, which will include barrel racing, breakaway roping, bull riding, mutton busting, ribbon roping and more starting Friday night. 

Tickets for the fair are available online before the event at a discount, while tickets for events such as the rodeo and monster trucks are only available online. Visit www.sisqfair.com for more information.

The Josephine County Fair, held at the Josephine County Fairgrounds off of Highway 199 in Grants Pass, will feature concerts, exhibits, truck and tractor pulls, and this year free gate admission for the whole week, according to the Josephine County Fair website. Tickets are required for concerts and carnival rides.

Concerts will take place Wednesday through Saturday nights. Headliners are Colt Ford on Wednesday; Josh Turner on Thursday; Heart by Heart — a tribute band including two founding members of the original Heart: Mike Derosier and Steve Fossen — on Friday; and Nashville duo Cloverdayle on Saturday.

Exhibits at the fair will include the traditional preserves and produce, livestock and quilts with uncommon categories like wine, and STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. The truck and tractor pulls run from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Fair hours are 2 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. 

For more information, visit www.josephinecountyfairgrounds.com/p/tickets