The Monmouth County Fair, which has long been a staple of the summer season in the county, has been cancelled for 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
There will be no racing pigs, no pie eating contests, no friendly cows to pet and no surprise performance from Bruce Springsteen (“The Boss” joined Sonny Kenn onstage at the fair in July 1982).
A message posted on the Monmouth County Fair Facebook page on May 27 reported that the fair will not take place in 2020, but states that “plans are already in the works to make 2021 our best fair yet! We hope to see you in the parks this summer.”
The county fair is organized by the Monmouth County Park System and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension and is held during the last week of July at the East Freehold Showgrounds in Freehold Township.
Each year the fair features rides, entertainment, food and vendors, and the event shows its agricultural roots with displays of livestock and farm equipment, a home and garden competition, and exhibits that are explained by members of the county’s 4-H organization.
Several fans of the fair shared their disappointment about the event’s cancellation with messages they posted on the Facebook page: “We withstood hurricanes, tropical storms, thunder, lightning and humidity … and loved every minute of it … my heart is broken” and “Have been entering the home and garden (competition) every year. This stinks.”