FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 28, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT: Candi Briley, (605) 353-7340

Day Sponsors Offer Special Activities at the SD State Fair

HURON, S.D. – With the help of day sponsors, the State Fair offers promotional days throughout the 2023 South Dakota State Fair. Each day offers different activities and giveaways.

Wednesday, Aug. 30, is Channel Seeds Preview Day. Preview Day at the State fair offers free gate admission allowing fairgoers a sneak peek of the fair. The carnival opens at 5 p.m. and all rides are $1 each. The Red Wilk Construction Tuff Hedeman Bull Bash kicks off the grandstand entertainment at 8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 31, is Value Added Ag Day where attendees can experience the benefits of value added agriculture in South Dakota. The Value Added Ag Development Center helps farmers, ranchers, and specialty crop producers create and expand the value added agriculture businesses. Stop by the Day Sponsor Tent to visit with producers and see some of those value-added items and join us for an ice cream social.

Friday, Sept. 1, is Prostrollo Motors Day. Make sure to stop by Prostrollo Motors on Easy Highway 14 in Huron prior to the fair to pick up a coupon for $1 off daily gate admission at the State Fair. While there you can also see the newest vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC including a great selection of 2022 and 2023 Chevy and GMC pickups with model year-end discounts. In addition, there will be special door prize drawings from Prostrollo’s during the Fair as well as free ice water on Friday, Prostrollo Day.

Fairgoers are encouraged to take part in ‘Wear R.E.D. (Remember Everyone Deployed)’ Friday in support of our troops and wear a red shirt to the fair! At 1:30 pm, fairgoers wearing red are invited to the NorthWestern Energy Freedom Stage to take a group photo. Photos will be sent to our deployed troops!

Stop by the Prostrollo Motors Building all week long to sign a ‘thank you’ sign and after the fair, the signs will be sent to deployed troops, along with the Wear R.E.D. photos!

Saturday, Sept. 2, is South Dakota Farmers Union Day. South Dakota Farmers Union hosts events throughout the day celebrating the family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities from across the state of South Dakota they so proudly represent. Highlighting the day of activities is the annual Farmer’s Share Luncheon (limited number of meals available) located in the tent near the Freedom stage from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. In comparison to the retail price of the meal, $15, attendees will pay just $0.38 for a meal that showcases the farmer’s share on retail food dollars.

Events at the Freedom Stage kick off at 10 a.m. with the “Getting Young Farmers in Agriculture” panel hosted by South Dakota Farmers Union with FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux, State FSA Director Steve Dick, NFU President Rob Larew, NFU VP Jeff Kippley, and Congressional Representatives invited. Listen in on the panel discussion titled “Eminent Domain vs. Property Rights” at 1:00 p.m. At 2:00 p.m. Farm Safety FFA Quiz Bowl Championship, four FFA Quiz Bowl teams will compete for the championship title. The Farm Safety Quiz bowl is designed as a fun way to teach high school students about safety on the farm or ranch. Farmers Union will also be displaying their interactive Farm Safety Trailer on Third Street in front of the Dakotaland Museum. The trailer will give visitors the opportunity to learn farm safety with power take offs, grain bins, down power lines and will host ATV simulator demonstrations 3 times a day at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

South Dakota’s Department of Public Safety is sponsoring DPS Day at the State Fair on Sunday, Sept. 3. DPS staff members will be located from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Day Sponsor Tent site. There will be giveaways including the traditional DPS hats and visors, free bottles of water, and a chance to renew your driver license (remember to bring two documents proving your address). The ever-popular Highway Patrol dog demonstrations and Tommy the Turtle’s disaster preparedness discussions are back this year at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The tent is sponsored by the State Office of Highway Safety which reminds you to drive safe and always wear your seatbelt. The DPS hats and visors, always a big hit with fair goers, are sponsored this year by DPS’s South Dakota Wildland Fire, which urges you to never leave a campfire unattended.

Join us for one last round of fun in ’23 on Monday, Sept 4, your final day to check off all the items on your fair bucket list before it’s over - indulge in your favorite fair food, buy that item on your wish list, take one last ride on the Ferris wheel, and enjoy the entertainment. Bring the entire family out to catch the ATV Big Air Tour sponsored by American Bank & Trust in the Grandstand at 1 p.m.! The show is free with paid gate admission.

Fairgoers can help to ‘stock the shelves’ on Monday, Sept. 4. Bring a non-perishable food item for the ‘Stock the Shelves’ food drive between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and receive $2 off daily gate admission.

The State Fair will be ‘paying it forward’ thanks to businesses that have banded together to sponsor gate admission passes. Fair officials will randomly hand out free passes at the gate admission entrances.

The 2023 South Dakota State Fair will run from Thursday, August 31, through Monday, September 4. Channel Seeds Preview night will be Wednesday, August 30. For more information on State Fair events, contact the Fair office at 800-529-0900, visit www.sdstatefair.com or find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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