Jason Brockshus took the reins of the fair this past April following a four-year run as the fair’s sponsorship director. He hit the ground running and is only looking out the windshield.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “We want to offer fairgoers a good value for their admission, and I want to say you can’t get it all done in a day if you want to see it all.”

Brockshus said he and his executive committee have redesigned the grandstand show line-up for this year’s edition.

This year the fair will feature three concerts (Oliver Anthony, who sings of the American working class; country music’s a capella group, “Home Free,” and a “Roots and Boots” tour featuring Collin Raye, Aaron Tippin and Sammy Kershaw; along with international comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. These acts will all perform over the first weekend and through Tuesday.

The remaining evenings of the fair will be filled with dirt track events, including Bulls & Broncs on Wednesday; IMCA Blue Ribbon Showdown on Thursday — featuring stock cars, sport mods, hobby stocks and sport compacts; the Battle of the Blue Ribbon will happen Friday, featuring American sprint car racing and tri-state late models. All-Star Monster Trucks will take the stage on Sept. 13, at 2 and 7 p.m., and the sounds and excitement of the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull will fill the air on Sept. 14, at 1 p.m.

Brockshus said the grandstand line-up will offer something for all tastes in entertainment, including a drone show that will light up the sky with calculated, moving formations following the Bulls and Broncs show on Wednesday.

“It’s unique to our area and I think people are going to want to see it,” said Brockshus. “There will be 200 drones and they’ll use their computers to make graphics in the sky — all set to music. It’s going to be awesome.”

He said there have been only one or two such shows in Iowa until now. The fair is working with Sky Elements from Texas, which also runs “America’s Got Talent.” Brockshus said the group is going to tailor-make designs specifically for the fair.

“You should be able to view it from the grandstand, the carnival area, food row … from lots of places around the fairgrounds,” he said.

Brockshus said the drone show will replace the fireworks following the grandstand show that night.

“I’m a livestock guy and I wasn’t excited about having fireworks after our bull riding. I didn’t want to have the rodeo after the rodeo,” he said. “The drone show will be a nice exchange for that, plus a great entertainment piece in and of itself.”

Also new this year will be the Coke Hospitality Tent Stage, located next to the grandstand, so people who wish to stay and hear more live music from Midwestern bands following grandstand events can do that.

A new partnership this year is the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association, putting on “Iowa Music Day” on Thursday. The day will feature an educational music component in the ballroom at the events center, and that evening, the Northwest Bank Stage will feature bands that won their youth showcase last year, along with more seasoned bands from 7 to 10 p.m.

“If the races aren’t your thing, you can come and be part of that music and get some fair food while you enjoy it,” said Brockshus.

He said the Farmer’s Market will return south of the Big Iron Barn, with vendors rotating throughout the nine days of the fair. That area will also feature beer and canned cocktails, with live music all week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Brockshus said new ticket booths that mimic the historic fair towers will make their debut, along with a new golf cart path at the north gate entrance, which will be laid with crushed asphalt to pave the way into the fairgrounds.

Brockshus said even with all of this, agriculture remains the backbone of the fair, with the Clay County Fair hosting the largest display of ag equipment of any fair in the nation.

He said Iowa State University Extension annually hosts the Ag-Citing ag educational program for northwest Iowa third- and fourth-graders, and the Cy-Citing program teaches about agriculture to area fifth- and sixth-graders. Students from 15 to 16 area schools use those opportunities at the fair as a field day.

Grandpa’s Barn remains a fair staple, giving thousands the chance to get up close to a farm animal and learn about them.

Brockshus said fair food is one of the main reasons people like coming to the Clay County Fair. Top fair foods have been selected, and will be voted on in the Creative Living Center on the first Sunday of the fair. “Pickle Lemonade” and the “Dumpster Dog” will be two of the items enticing voters.

Fairgoers will have opportunities to get into the fair for free or at a reduced price, with several days that honor various groups. Veterans will be admitted to the fair for free on Monday; senior citizens can enter the fair at a reduced admission of $8 on Tuesday; and first responders/emergency workers will get into the fair free on Wednesday. Brockshus said everyone can get into the fair for free daily starting at 7:30 p.m., which he said is a chance for people to hear what’s happening in the grandstand or see what music or acts might be performing on the fairgrounds, and to visit any of the fair’s throng of food vendors.

Admission at the gate is $12 per person. Pre-fair tickets can be purchased at the fair’s website (www.claycountyfair.com) or from any of 70 local outlets. Children age 12 and under get into the fair free every day.

With the new grandstand line-up of events (music first, then the transition to all dirt events for the last half of the fair), daily 4-H/FFA and open class livestock shows, $180,000 in free fair entertainment, live music at all times of the day and evening, strolling and grounds acts, fair foods to try, and buildings full of commercial vendors waiting to meet prospective buyers, Brockshus said the fair — which draws 300,000 people annually — is worth the price of admission.

“It will be nine days of fun with a full slate of vendors, including 50 new ones. We can’t wait for the fair to start,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”