The St. Mary’s County Fair returns to Leonardtown this week for its 79th year, with exhibit entries due Wednesday and the gates opening Thursday for a four-day run through Sunday, Sept. 27.
St. Mary’s County Government, on behalf of the St. Mary’s County Fair Association, is inviting residents to the fairgrounds at 42455 Fairgrounds Road for a schedule built around a different theme each day. Thursday is Opening Day, running 4 to 9 p.m., with exhibits opening to the public and the crowning of the Queen of Tolerance — a title tied to the fair’s own history, discussed below. Friday is Kids Day, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with free student admission until 5 p.m. and 4-H shows throughout the day. Saturday is Parade Day, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., featuring the fair parade, a jousting tournament and a Clydesdale demonstration. Sunday closes things out as Family Day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a baby show and an antique tractor pull.
The fair traces back to 1947, when the first two editions were held on rented grounds at Camp Calvert on Breton Bay before the county leased the current Fairgrounds Road property, then known as the Alms Property, in 1949. For more than a decade after that, the county’s Black community held a separate fair; the two merged into the single event that continues today in 1963.
County officials are again asking visitors to stop by the Commercial 2 building to learn more about county government programs and services, and are recommending carpooling to help manage onsite parking, with the main fairgrounds lot best reached from Fairgrounds Road via Route 4.
Traffic will be affected Saturday for the parade. Drivers should expect delays on Maryland Route 5 (Point Lookout Road) from about 8:30 a.m. to noon, with partial road closures from roughly 10 a.m. until the parade ends; the county is recommending alternate routes during that window.
Weather-wise, the forecast has mostly cleared up for fair week: after a wet Wednesday, Thursday through Sunday are shaping up dry to mostly dry, with highs climbing from the upper 60s Thursday into the mid-70s by the weekend.
Updates on the fair are posted at Facebook.com/SMCFair.
Fair schedule at a glance
Day Date Hours Theme/Highlights Wednesday Sept. 23 — Entry Day Thursday Sept. 24 4-9 p.m. Opening Day; Queen of Tolerance crowning Friday Sept. 25 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Kids Day; free student admission until 5 p.m. Saturday Sept. 26 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Parade Day; jousting, Clydesdales Sunday Sept. 27 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Family Day; baby show, tractor pull
