Visiting 2021 Loudoun County Fair, Animals and Demolition Derby

by admin

A post about my visit to 2021 Loudoun County Fair, in Leesburg, Virginia, featuring music, rides, animal exhibits, and a demolition derby(!).

Demolition Derby

It had been a long time since I was introduced to figure-8 racing in Need for Speeds. But it wasn’t until recently that I found out about this genius event called “county fair” in North America, which often featured something equally thrilling called “demolition derby”. I scouted around where I lived and I found this year’s Loudoun County Fair in Leesburg, Virginia would feature such an event. So, I decided to check it out.

Frankly, I wasn’t too sure what a county fair was. It seemed to stem from agriculture exhibitions, something like a beauty pageant for animals. Then probably to keep non-farmers entertained, it started to involve games, rides, and live music, and finally in some cases, a demolition derby.
I arrived at the site of the fair at approximately noon, which gave me some time to check out the rest of the county fair before its demolition derby at dusk.

The animal dressing contest was the first activity that I checked out, which, despite its name, involved an equal amount of human dress up than animal. I soon found out the winning formula was to conjure up an interesting story that would be relatable to the fair, like a how a group of domestic animals wandered from their farm to the bewildering world of Loudoun County Fair, had the greatest adventure of their life before being reunited with their owners.

Animal Dressing Contest Ground
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Scuba diving goats.
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Scuba diving goats.
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Scuba diving goats.
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Dragon tales.
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Dragon tales.
Animal Dressing Contest Participant
Dragon tales.

Then I check out the other animals on exhibit, without being dressed up.

Goat
Goat
Goat
Horse Nail Maintenance
Horse Nail Maintenance
Horse Nail Maintenance
Horse
Swine Exhibit
Swine Exhibit
Swine Exhibit

In addition to animals, the fair also featured a few rides, none of which was as exciting as a roller coaster so I wasn’t interested. Besides that, the fair also featured a few music performances and some bicycle stunts (photos below).

Bicycle Stunt Performers
Bicycle Stunt
Bicycle Stunt
Bicycle Stunt
Bicycle Stunt

Finally, it’s approaching demolition derby time. But before that, the fair hosted a power wheels derby, featuring underaged children driving power wheels ~~ramming~~ touching each other. Seemed to me like an event to keep the children of demolition derby participants involved.

Power Wheels Derby
Power Wheels Derby
Power Wheels Derby
Power Wheels Derby
Power Wheels Derby

Finally, it’s the highly anticipated demolition derby. It’s obviously the most popular event of the entire week-long county fair, with people filling every seat in the surrounding stadium, plus a considerable standing audience.

As for the demolition derby, it featured a few cars hitting each other, with the driver of the last running car declared as the winner. For safety, it’s often held on muddy grounds to limit the speed of the cars, and glass windows were removed from all participating cars. It’s certainly the type of event for the evil and chaotic part of me.

I recorded the entire event, with the video below: