It’s high June in Hopkinsville, and we all know what that means. The Western Kentucky State Fair has arrived, shouldering the summer equinox out of the way as the true mark of the season’s peak.
All this week, summer reigns supreme! And this seasonal celebration comes in the form of careening fair rides, crashing hot-rods, beauty competitions and fair food, all wrapped up in the sticky embrace of June. Can there be anything better?
Even if you’re not at the fair, chances are you’re still experiencing the atmospheric afterglow of dust, smoke and multi-colored lights set to the roar of the Demolition Derby. We certainly are at our home on East Seventh Street. But I’d encourage you to dig out your best star-spangled attire and treat yourself to an evening at the fair. Even if you missed opening weekend, there’s still a solid reason to visit the 2024 fair in Hopkinsville — the local food booths.
Fairs and Food
The fair and food’s place in it is a firmly established tradition in the Western world. The fair is a holdover from centuries-old European agricultural traditions.
In Kentucky and Tennessee, county fairs sprung up in the early 1800s and gained a cultural foothold during the middle part of that century. Their appeal was broad. They provided socialization with other communities, a chance to strut new fashion, a venue for salesmen to market and farmers to examine new technology, and entertainment and competition.
Fairs in this region always contained a strong culinary element. There were competitions for the best raw food materials, like pigs, corn and tomatoes, as well as for finished food products, such as jams and jellies, canned goods and baked goods. The winners of these competitions often received cash prizes, as well as achieving lasting fame in the newspaper (I’m still reading about them!).
These articles continue to offer a delightful glimpse into life in another time and what people ate then. For example, in 1916 the Pennyroyal Fair Association offered $1 prizes for, among other things, the best canned okra, catsup and preserves.
Local Food Vendors
The Western Kentucky State Fair began in 1951 and has operated nearly continuously ever since. It has a strong local food showing, and some of the items for purchase have their own histories altogether. The avenue running between the midway and the grandstand is lined with authentic Christian County culture that you can — and should — eat.
My husband, Brendan, and I perused the local offerings last night. Armed with empty stomachs and a fistful of cash, we put together a smorgasbord from the local booths. This is our guide to local fare at the Western Kentucky State Fair (with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure!):
Headliners
Four of the local food booths sell entrees: Christian County 4-H, Hopkinsville Junior Auxiliary, Stump’s Grill by the Jaycee’s, and the Woodshed in the BBQ building. All are on the main walkway between the midway and the grandstand. Note: Tacos el Papi has a booth this year, which we missed. It’s off the main path, down on the left.
Each booth offers standard American fair fare like cheeseburgers and hotdogs. But each vendor also has a specialty headliner item, and we tried them all.
Ribeye Sandwich (4-H) — $9.50; No shaved beef here! This is a legitimate steak, smooshed into a bun. The ribeye is so big, they had to fold it over. This sandwich has serious history at the Western Kentucky State Fair. The local 4-H was already serving it in 1989, maybe even earlier! It’s juicy, huge and comes with toppings and A1 sauce. 4-H is located in the green metal building at the end of the avenue, behind the grandstand.
Pork Chop Sandwich (Junior Auxiliary) — $6; This is another storied sandwich. I traced it back to 1992 at the Western Kentucky State Fair, but it too could date to earlier. It comes with cheese, onions, tomato, lettuce, and pickles. This sandwich is delicious and holds true to the region’s history with pork products. It’s also a great deal. You get a lot for $6. Junior Auxiliary is located in the pink booth beside 4-H.
The Homewrecker (Stump’s Grill, by the Jaycee’s) — $5; A grilled Polish sausage smothered in grilled onions and jalapenos and encased in a bun. What’s not to love? Stump’s Grill is in the blue cinderblock building on the main avenue near the grandstand.
BBQ Sandwich (The Woodshed) — $5; The Woodshed’s barbecue consistently holds up. It’s moist and flavorful, and they give you a generous serving. There’s a reason they’re a Hopkinsville institution. You can also get a plate. We just didn’t because, well, one can only eat so much. The Woodshed is located in the building clearly marked “BBQ” at the beginning of the avenue.
Appetizers/Sides
Most of the vendors have side items like bags of chips and dill pickles. Stump’s Grill and 4-H both sell nachos. Junior Auxiliary has curly fries and cheese sticks. Below are two sides we tried that were great.
Roasted Corn (The Corn Shack) — $5; The Corn Shack, a Louisville business that’s sponsored by the Local Corn Growers’ Association, sells individual roasted ears of corn. This was certainly the healthiest food option we had at the fair and it was sweet and tender. They also gave me an extra ear of corn because they thought the first was small. The Corn Shack also sells kettle corn and lemon shakeups (more on this in the sweets section). This is their second year at the Western Kentucky State Fair.
Steak Loaded Baked Potato (4-H) — $10; This baked potato probably weighed a pound and came with sour cream, steak, chili, and cheese. This could be an appetizer or an entree.
Sweet Things
Almost every local food vendor is selling sweet things. Welcome to the fair! Junior Auxiliary has funnel cake, and The Woodshed has snow cones.
Fried Oreos (Jaycee’s Too) — $3.50; I’ve eaten my fair share of fried Oreos, and I have to say that these were perfectly cooked. The Oreo was soft, but the outside wasn’t burnt or tough. And they had powdered sugar on top. This booth is being run by Grace & Mercy, a Christian nonprofit that provides a safe home for women and thrift store on Fort Campbell Boulevard. They also sell cotton candy and funnel cakes at the fair.
Fudge (Grace & Mercy) — Grace & Mercy also has a tent across the avenue from Jaycee’s Too, next to Stump’s Grill, which is entirely fudge. You can buy a variety pack that’s three different kinds (about 2.75-3 oz. chunks), or a half-pound of one flavor. The chocolate peanut butter is pretty darn yummy! This is Grace & Mercy’s third year at the fair.
Single Scoop of Ice Cream (Prairie Farms) — $2; This is the biggest single scoop of ice cream I’ve ever gotten, was delicious and creamy, and was just two bucks! What a deal! You can get a cone or cup, and they also sell milkshakes ($5), sundaes ($3), and floats ($4). Prairie Farms is a farmer-owned company based in Southern Illinois. Their booth at the fair is located off the main avenue of local food vendors, to the left if you’re standing with Stump’s Grill and the BBQ building to your back. They are cash only.
Lemon Shakeup (The Corn Shack) — $7; The Lemon Shakeup is an enormous, fresh-squeezed lemonade. It comes in a variety of flavors; I got blackberry. There was a guy behind the counter laboring away on a hand-held lemon juicer while I was ordering. This was probably my favorite food from the fair. It was expensive but so good, and it hit the spot in the heat.
Vegetarian Options
For any non-meat eaters hesitant to go to the fair because you think you won’t find anything to eat, fear not! Some meat-free entrees include nachos and baked potatoes at 4-H, nachos and cheese pizza at Stump’s Grill, and the Vegetable Plate at the Woodshed.
The fashion strutted on the fair’s blacktop paths and shiny new tractors lining the walkway to the grandstand may have evolved over the past hundred years, but the essense of the fair has remained strikingly the same. In 1924, the Pennyroyal Fair cultivated a sense of place and identity and cemented local culture using tractors, games and food. In 2024, the Western Kentucky State Fair is still doing the exact same thing.
Grace Abernethy is a historic preservationist and artist who specializes in caring for and recreating historic architectural finishes. She earned her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Clemson University in 2011 and has worked on historic buildings throughout the eastern United States. Abernethy was a recipient of the South Carolina Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation Award in 2014 and won 2nd place in the Charles E. Peterson Prize for the Historic American Buildings Survey in 2011. She and her husband, Brendan, moved to Hopkinsville from Nashville in 2020. She works as an independent contractor and is a board member of the Hopkinsville History Foundation.
