Yes, it’s fair time — but just where do these clever fair themes come from?

||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR |||

It starts every year in September, and sometimes not until October, as the previous San Juan County Fair becomes a still-warm memory, that ideas for next year’s fair theme bubble up and are introduced to and by Fair Board members. Behind the scenes, even if the current Fair is still underway, Board members have individually been sloshing their idea(s) around in their heads for months, the one that this year might get through. They might compile anything from a handwritten notice on a slip of paper to a detailed spreadsheet. Because, there seems to be a certain, well, competition to be the one to come up with the new theme.

Ultimately, after they compile a running list of suggested themes, and no one, of course, can agree on the top contender, they resort to ranked-choice voting, eventually reaching final agreement. It is then turned over to an artist for interpretation and creation as it becomes the theme for the next year’s Fair.

But there was one year when the theme choice was unanimous, according to Brad Fincher, who has been on the Fair Board  since 2000. “In 2020, it was a unanimous choice for “Fair Odyssey,” he said, “a nod to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” How could they not select this?! Sometimes, it’s just too easy.

This year’s Virtual Fair opens today, Wednesday, August 18 and runs through Saturday, August 21. The fair schedule can be viewed HERE.