Baldwin County Fair Marks 75th Year in Robertsdale With 35 Rides and a Petting Zoo

ROBERTSDALE — The Baldwin County Fair returns to the fairgrounds on Fairground Road this month for a five-day run that organizers say will mark the fair’s 75th edition.

The 2026 fair opens Tuesday, Sept. 22, and closes Saturday, Sept. 26, at 19477 Fairground Road in Robertsdale. It is organized by the Baldwin County Cattle & Fair Association, and organizers expect more than 30,000 visitors across the five days.

Dates, Hours and Admission

Gates open at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, with the fairgrounds closing at 11 p.m. Friday hours extend later, to 1 a.m. Saturday runs on a different schedule entirely, opening at 2 p.m. and closing at 11 p.m.

Adult admission is $10 at the gate. Seniors 65 and older, active-duty military, veterans and children under 12 get in free. Parking is free for everyone.

Those hours are worth planning around. The weekday schedule is built for families arriving after work and after school, which concentrates crowds in the first hours after the gates open. The Saturday afternoon start is the only daylight block on the calendar, and it is generally the easiest window for younger children and for anyone who would rather see the livestock barns and exhibit halls without a nighttime midway crowd.

A Fair That Predates Most of Its Visitors

The fair has been a fixture in south Alabama since 1948, drawing tens of thousands of people to Robertsdale each fall for close to eight decades.

Its longevity is tied to what Baldwin County is. The county is the largest in Alabama by land area, and while its coastline and its beach towns get most of the attention, the interior remains substantially agricultural — row crops, cattle, timber, turf, nurseries and produce. Robertsdale sits in the middle of that farming country, at the crossroads of U.S. 90 and Alabama 59, roughly halfway between the Eastern Shore and the beach.

The organizing body’s name says the rest. The Baldwin County Cattle & Fair Association is a cattlemen’s organization that runs a fair, not an events company that added some livestock. That lineage is why the fair still gives real estate to show rings and exhibit halls rather than turning the whole footprint over to the midway.

What a County Fair Is Actually For

Agricultural fairs in the United States began as competitive exhibitions — a place to bring the best steer, the best preserved vegetables, the best quilt and the best pie, and to be judged against neighbors doing the same. The premise has not changed much. Ribbons still function as a public record of a year’s work.

The competitive livestock program is also a youth program. Across Alabama, students in 4-H and FFA chapters raise and show animals as long-term projects that run for months before the fair opens: buying or selecting an animal, tracking feed and weight gain, keeping records, learning to handle and present the animal in a ring, and in many cases selling it at the end. The skills on display in a show ring are the visible portion of a project that started long before September.

For the general public, the exhibits do something a grocery aisle cannot. Baldwin County’s farm economy is easy to drive past on the way to the beach. A fairgrounds barn puts it directly in front of tens of thousands of people, including a lot of children who have never stood next to a full-grown cow.

The Midway

The carnival midway this year will feature rides from Arnold Amusements.

Among them is Area 51, a spinning attraction that lifts riders off the ground through centrifugal force. The Cliff Hanger simulates hang gliding, carrying three-passenger vehicles into the air once the ride reaches full speed. The Freak Out is a pendulum-style ride that swings riders back and forth with their feet hanging beneath the seat, in open chairs that rotate as the pendulum accelerates; it is marketed to riders looking for a high-energy experience.

Traveling carnivals like this one operate on a circuit, moving equipment from fair to fair through the season and assembling it on site in a matter of days. In Alabama, amusement rides at fairs and carnivals are subject to state inspection requirements, and ride operators post height and health restrictions at each attraction. Parents should expect those posted limits to be enforced at the gate of each ride rather than at the gate of the fair.

Food, Exhibits and Contests

Beyond the midway, the fair features agricultural and educational exhibits, contests and food prepared by local vendors.

Fair food occupies its own category in American cooking — funnel cakes, corn dogs, turkey legs, boiled peanuts, fresh-squeezed lemonade and whatever a vendor has decided to deep-fry this year. At a county fair, a meaningful share of the concession stands are operated by local civic clubs, church groups, booster clubs and volunteer organizations, for which fair week is one of the larger fundraisers on the annual calendar.

Planning Your Visit

A few practical notes for anyone heading to Robertsdale. Parking is free, but a five-day fair drawing 30,000-plus visitors means the lots fill fastest in the first hour or two after gates open on Friday and Saturday. Cash is still useful; while most operations accept cards, ride tickets, game booths and small vendors move faster with cash in hand.

September on the Alabama Gulf Coast is still summer in every way that matters. Evening heat and humidity remain high, and afternoon thunderstorms are common. Comfortable shoes, water and a plan for shade during the Saturday afternoon block will improve the experience considerably.

Why It Still Matters

Baldwin County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama for years, and much of that growth has arrived in the form of subdivisions on land that used to be farmed. A fair that has run since 1948 is one of the few institutions that still puts the county’s newest residents and its oldest industry in the same place on the same night.

The 75th edition runs Sept. 22-26 at 19477 Fairground Road in Robertsdale.

Update: Fair Opens With 35 Rides, a Petting Zoo and New Family Attractions (Sept. 23, 2026)

The Baldwin County Fair is now underway at the Baldwin County Fairgrounds in Robertsdale, and organizers have expanded this year’s 75th edition with more games, more concession stands and three new rides, bringing the midway to 35 rides in all.

New on the Midway

Joey Even of Arnold Amusements, which has operated the fair’s midway for more than 10 years, said the new additions were chosen with families in mind.

“We have a rocking tub which is a family ride for the kids and adults to ride. We have Dizzy Dragon which is also a family ride, kids and adults and then we have our farm tractors. They’re little like John Deer tractors. They’re all painted a different theme,” Even said.

Even said the midway is meant to round out a visit once guests have seen the exhibits and competitions.

“It’s like a puzzle and it all just kind of snaps together and what it is, it gives entertainment to the people once they’ve done the fair side of it as you will. Once you’ve done that, it gives them something else to do whether it’s eat, play or whether they just walk around watching people or just actually enjoy being outside looking at the lights and stuff,” he said.

Competitions and a Petting Zoo

Inside the convention center, the fair is hosting baking, floral and other competitions. Outside in the arena, families can visit a petting zoo with animals that include camels, antelopes, snakes and a baby kangaroo.

The Food

Fair organizer Sonny Hankins said visitors know exactly what they are coming for when it comes to food.

“When people come to the county fair, they don’t come to eat navy beans and collar greens and cornbread. They come to eat candied apples and cotton candy. And fried Oreos and that kind of stuff,” Hankins said.

Hours and Admission

• Tuesday through Thursday: 5 to 11 p.m.
• Friday: 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
• Saturday: 2 to 11 p.m.

Admission is $10. Seniors, veterans and children under 12 get in free. The fair is presented each year by the Baldwin County Cattle and Fair Association and runs through Saturday, Sept. 26.