Annual Grange Fair Returns With Favorites & New Fun

The Middletown Grange Fair kicked off its annual run Wednesday at the fairgrounds on Penns Park Road.

The summer staple opened Wednesday, Aug. 12, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 16. The grounds are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Fairgoers will find familiar favorites across the fairgrounds, including the tractor parade, carnival games, and the fair’s famous chicken dinner, which is served Thursday through Saturday only. Community and 4-H exhibition barns are again packed with thousands of judged entries, ranging from quilts and baked goods to fresh vegetables.

Debuting at this year’s event is the Pirates of the Colombian Caribbean. The live action-adventure show features performers staging sword fights, rope slides, and stunts on a high wire set 20 feet in the air atop a 60-foot pirate ship built on the grounds.

Skelly’s Amusements has returned to operate the carnival rides. Amusement rides open at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and at noon on Saturday and Sunday.

While admission to the fair is free, parking costs $20 per vehicle. Proceeds from the parking fee benefit the Lingohocken Fire Company and the Bucks County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge.

A full daily schedule of events is available on the Middletown Grange Fair website.

The Middletown Grange Fair began in 1948 after a national challenge to grow 300 bushels of corn. Members of the Middletown Grange planted corn in Yardley and invited the public to help with the harvest. The organization bought the current 48-acre property in Wrightstown Township in 1966.