Editorial: The fair deal

The weather forecast for Thursday through Sunday calls for classic Maryland summer weather: highs in the 80s and low 90s, with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, otherwise partly cloudy to mostly sunny. In other words, just about as good as could be expected for what has become over the past quarter of a century one of Harford County's signature events, the Farm Fair.

Though the county's fair tradition pre-dates the current incarnation of the Harford County Farm Fair, the event slated to open this week was organized in its early days to showcase the work of local 4-H clubs and provide an inexpensive weekend of family friendly entertainment. No booze. No kid-targeted money pits. Just an entry fee that covers everything but food. And everything includes an array of animal races, tractor pulls, country competitions like horse shoes and watermelon eating, craft demonstrations and stage performers. It's fair to say there's more going on at any one time than any one person could take in.

This year's fair promises to be no different: plenty of entertainment for a reasonable price, plus the opportunity for the suburban crowd to get a first hand look at where food comes from, namely farms. As always, there will be cows, pigs, chickens and other fowl, not to mention rabbits, flowers, fruits and vegetables.

The fair organization sought to supplement its budget this year with a carnival last week, but the weather wasn't cooperative. Some might take it as a sign, but it's probably just a coincidence. One thing is for sure, though, so few people attended the carnival, not many folks can excuse themselves from making a visit to the Farm Fair by saying they already went to the fair's carnival.

This week the weather is expected to be a good deal more conducive to outdoor activities, so the Farm Fair at the Harford County Equestrian Center in Bel Air is the place to be this weekend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Hope to see "ewe" there.