Schoharie County’s Sunshine Fair: For 150 Years, Powered By The Energy Of Local Kids.

For Youth Exhibitors, prepping for the Sunshine Fair starts long before the gates open. But there’s still time for fun.

Where your kids and your neighbors’ kids (and someday, your grandkids) can live the rural values that bring us together. No matter what the rest of the world brings.

There’s something about a Country Fair that brings out the kid in everyone.

Especially Schoharie County’s Sunshine Fair, just off its five-day run, an amazing 150 years of tractors and tractor pulls, blue ribbons, cows and pigs (and the Hot Dog Racing Pigs)...

Horses (and gymkana). Goats and sheep. High-wire acrobats, midway rides and games, demo derbies, fried dough, French fries, and lemonade. Arts & Crafts and local history displays. 

And Miss Sunshine Fair 2026.

But mostly, it’s about the kids.

And there’s a place for every kid.

We’re all kids when it comes to the Schoharie County Sunshine Fair midway.

Like…Sharon Springs 4th-grader Gabriella Cornwell, still riding high Saturday after her successes in the show ring, sitting (mostly) in the Pole Barn stands, as she waited to join 30-some fellow Youth Exhibitors and 4-H’ers in an auction expected to haul in more than $10,000 for next year’s prizes. (And a little bling. Like the cool shades 4-H’s Catherine Roberts handed out to helpers ahead of time.)

Gabriella’s little brothers, Jaxson and Michael, were there too–in the show ring and helping at the auction. Because on this side of the Fairgrounds, it’s all about family: mom Ashleigh showed at the Fair when she was their age. Pigs, cows, sheep…

That’s a family tradition Chuck and Michele Finin of Cobleskill appreciate. 

They were there Monday, in the Dairy Barns before the Fair opened, taking it all in, as kids washed and clipped and blow dried and picked up after their cows, prepping for the long days ahead.

Many exhibitors have been competing at the Sunshine Fair for generations.

 “It’s all about the generations,” Chuck said. “It could be 60 years ago. It’s really pretty incredible what we’ve got here.”

For 4-H’ers and Youth Exhibitors, it was all hands on deck for Saturday’s fundraising auction of both donated and blue ribbon items.

It’s not all just work, though, There’s plenty of time for kids to be kids. Camping out back behind the barns; for the older ones, riding the rides under the lights, and hopefully getting a few hours of sleep before 5am chores. Family breakfasts and potlucks. Naps  with their best cows and on bales of hay.

Fair Director Lois Goblet’s kids (and now, grandkids) grew up showing at the Fair (the auction was her idea), and before things got too crazy, she reminded them of the rules: 

Be kind to your animals. Keep an eye on your siblings. Don’t leave the grounds. And most of all, have fun. “It’s not all about walking out of the show ring with a first-place ribbon.” Sometimes, it’s about showing up.

The Saturday before the Fair opened, a dozen or so volunteers turned out to help 4-H’ers check into Progressland with their projects, everything from sewing to woodworking to photography  and more and more and more.

By the time the Fair opened at 10am Tuesday? Progressland's walls were filled with what they’d brought, ribbons and all. And there were plenty of ribbons. (If you’re going, some of the blue ribbon winners will be advancing to the New York State Fair in Syracuse, August 26-September 7.)

You don’t have to be a kid to remember your days at the Fair–or to want your kids to grow up being a part of it…

Before he was Schoharie Town supervisor, before he was a State Assemblyman, Chris Tague was a kid showing at the Schoharie County Sunshine Fair, and he still celebrates those days.

“Everything I am, it all started here,” he said. “Responsibility, showing up, working hard…those were all things I learned showing cows at the Cobleskill Fair. There’s nothing like it. Every kid should have that experience.”

Maybe yours? Looking for a place where your kids can learn those lessons too?

Community.
Hard work.
Perseverance.
Responsibility.
Consider Schoharie County. 

You don’t have to be a 4-H’er but it’s a place to start…

There’s also plenty of opportunities for adult vols at the Fair.

Because though 2027 seems like a long ways off, they’re already working on it.

We’ve got more stories on what makes us us at Root-Access.

Plus plenty of resources on making your life here at SEECNY