Sheboygan County Fair, Which Is Not in Sheboygan

The Sheboygan County Fair is the county's end-of-summer ritual: five days of livestock barns, grandstand pulls, a demolition derby, a carnival midway and a great deal of bratwurst, held every year over Labor Day weekend. The first thing to know is that it is not in Sheboygan. The fair takes its name from the county, and it is held at the county fairgrounds in Plymouth, west of the city. Everything else here, from getting there to what it costs and where to stay, follows from that.

When and where the fair is

The Sheboygan County Fair runs over Labor Day weekend, Thursday to Monday, at Sheboygan County Fair Park, 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, about 12 miles due west of Sheboygan.

That Labor Day rule is the answer that holds every year, and it is the one to plan around; exact dates and the full daily schedule are published each summer by the Sheboygan County Fair Association on its own site. The Association has been putting on a county fair since 1851, and it is an independent non-profit that runs the fair without county tax money.

The fair is part of a busy late-summer stretch in the county, and it lands on the same weekend that surf season starts on the lake. Sheboygan's calendar through the seasons shows what else is on around it.

Getting there from Sheboygan

The fairgrounds sit almost exactly due west of downtown Sheboygan along the Highway 23 corridor, roughly 12 miles in a straight line, on the edge of Plymouth.

Most people drive west on Highway 23 and follow the signs into Plymouth. Parking at the fairgrounds costs . On busy days the fair has also run a free shuttle from a lot in Plymouth, which avoids the line for parking near the gates; check the Association's announcements for where and when it runs.

For anyone who would rather ride, the Old Plank Road Trail follows the same corridor from Sheboygan's Erie Avenue trailhead toward Plymouth, paved and away from traffic for most of the way. It is a long ride for a hot Labor Day weekend, so it suits fit cyclists who start early. The distances and trailheads along the paved trail west from Erie Avenue are worth checking first, and trips west from Sheboygan make the most of a day in Plymouth.

The city of Plymouth itself is worth an hour before or after the fair, with a downtown and the Cheese Capital of the World arch on the way in.

What actually happens

It is a working agricultural fair with a big entertainment program alongside, so the livestock barns and the demolition derby are equally the point.

The fair's roots are agricultural, and that side is still very much alive. The barns fill with cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits and poultry, many shown by young people through 4-H and other youth programs, and the exhibit halls carry vegetables, baking, crafts and photography entered by county residents. Walking the barns is free with admission and is the best part of the fair for children who have never met a dairy cow up close.

The grandstand is where the noise is. The program typically includes tractor pulls and truck pulls, a demolition derby, bull riding and barrel racing, and a headline concert, with DockDogs dock-diving competitions drawing crowds elsewhere on the grounds. The carnival midway runs rides and games through the day and into the evening, and live music plays across the grounds. Specific acts change every year, so the Association's schedule is the place to check who is on.

Weather can change the plan. Grandstand events can be cancelled for rain, and when that happens tickets bought online are refunded automatically and cash tickets are refunded at the fair office. Late-summer thunderstorms are common enough that it is worth a glance at the forecast before buying grandstand seats.

Admission, parking and what it costs

Daily admission is 0 for adults, for ages 10 to 14 and free for children 9 and under; parking is , and grandstand events are ticketed separately.

Season passes are available for anyone planning to go on several days, and they pay for themselves quickly for a family that lives nearby. The fair has held a Military Day with free admission for past and present members of the military with ID, and it has run a free shuttle from Plymouth on the busiest days; details of both are published with each year's schedule.

Budget separately for the grandstand, the carnival and food. Grandstand tickets are sold per event, the carnival rides are paid on top of admission, and food and drink add up across a long day. A family can keep costs down by choosing one grandstand event and a set number of ride tickets before arriving, and by eating at the community-run stands.

These prices reflect the most recent fair; confirm them on the Association's tickets page before you go, since they can change from one year to the next.

Eating at the fair

This is Sheboygan County, so the brats are the thing to eat, and many of the food stands are run by local clubs and community groups rather than traveling concessionaires.

A brat at the fair is cooked the local way, over direct heat, and served on a hard roll with onion and brown mustard, often doubled. The community-run stands are part of the tradition: churches, service clubs and youth groups raise money through their booths each year, so what you spend on lunch goes back into the county. Look for the stands with the longest local lines rather than the brightest signs.

Alongside the brats you will find the usual fair food, from cheese curds and corn on the cob to funnel cakes, corn dogs and ice cream. In a dairy county, cheese in some form is never far away.

If the fair leaves you wanting to cook your own, Miesfeld's butcher shop in Sheboygan sells more than 25 kinds of bratwurst, and the roll, the doubles and the charcoal all matter to a proper Sheboygan brat.

Tips for a fair day

Go early for the barns and the shade, eat lunch before the noon rush, pick one grandstand event rather than trying to see them all, and leave the car at the shuttle lot on the busiest days.

Mornings are the calm part of the day. The animals are being fed and shown, the lines at the food stands are short, and the heat has not built up. By mid-afternoon on a hot Labor Day weekend the grounds are busy and the midway is loud, which is great for teenagers and hard on toddlers.

Wear comfortable shoes, because the grounds are large and the barns have uneven floors. Bring sunscreen, a hat and a refillable water bottle, and keep some cash, since not every community stand takes cards. Check the grandstand schedule before you leave home and buy tickets for your top-priority grandstand event, rather than finding it sold out at the gate.

With children, set a meeting point on arrival, such as the entrance to a particular barn, and agree a ride budget before the midway comes into view. Evenings bring the lights of the carnival, and a late ride on the Ferris wheel is the part most children remember.

Where to stay for the fair

Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest times for rooms across the county, so book early, and remember that Sheboygan has far more hotels than Plymouth.

Plymouth has a handful of places to stay, including Plymouth Suites Hotel, and they are the closest to the fairgrounds. Most visitors stay in Sheboygan, about 12 miles east, where the choice runs from lakefront resorts to chain hotels near I-43, and drive out to the fair each day. The combination works well: fair by day, lake and dinner in Sheboygan by evening, with the rest of a Sheboygan long weekend filling the mornings before the fair gets busy.

Race weekends at Road America, near Elkhart Lake, put the other big seasonal pressure on rooms in the county, so check the track's calendar if you are booking for any late-summer weekend. Sheboygan's hotels by the lake and the interstate are sorted by location and price.

The fair's history

The Sheboygan County Fair Association has held a fair since 1851, which makes the fair older than most of the towns and villages around it.

In an agricultural county in the 19th century, a county fair was practical as much as festive. Farmers brought livestock and crops to be judged, compared breeds and methods, bought equipment and caught up with neighbors they might not see again until the next harvest. The prize ribbons meant better prices and better reputations.

Over the generations the balance has shifted toward entertainment, with the grandstand, the carnival and the concerts now drawing most of the crowd. The barns are still full, though, and the youth livestock shows keep the fair's original purpose at its center. It remains one of the few events where town and farm families in Sheboygan County spend the same long weekend in the same place.