HAMILTON — Hamilton has been busy hosting the Ravalli County Fair this week.
The fairgrounds opened early on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, to give people with sensitivities a calmer fair environment to make sure the fun is accessible to everyone.
"I'm about to do the Ferris Wheel, but I'm scared but I'm going to just face my fear," shared attendee Frank Zepeda.
The thrill of a carnival ride is a feeling that lives on.
"I went on the dog and I went on the other one with the track and one rollercoaster that was fun," explained attendee Katharine Russ. Another attendee Melissa Williams added, "It's a lot of memories that's been put together. A riot to see things and makes my heart jump."
However, sometimes, the excitement that comes with a fair can be a bit overwhelming.
"We have a lot of community guests that are very sensitive to sound or music lights, the extra 15,000 people that might be hanging around. So, we do a private event with them for two hours," detailed Ravalli County Fairgrounds manager Melissa Saville.
The Ravalli County Fairgrounds team has been working with North Star Amusements for the past three years to put on a special experience without loud music or flashing lights.
"We close the carnival down and we open up about a dozen rides with their staff and we welcome in the community and we asked them to bring some companions and it's worked out amazing," said Saville. "It's very important to us that they get to experience fair, just like everybody else," she continued.
Attendees and their families got free passes to the fair and lunch.
Zepeda told MTN, "Just eating a lot of junk food makes me happy."
The Ravalli County Fairgrounds staff said they would love to see this type of experience at other fairs around the state and country.
"What we've seen when we go to conventions is that a few of our sister fairs have seen us advertising this or heard about it and have started to ask the carnival company — whether they work with our same carnival company or another one — to do the same sort of a special event and it really seems to be taking off," explained Saville.
Staff members know that the increase in access will come through the effort they've put in.
"We just want to make sure that the entire community understands that fair is for everybody and that just means something different for all of our guests," stated Saville.
