Spokane County Interstate Fair is coming back Friday, featuring a live mascot

The Spokane County Interstate Fair is back in 2023, bringing 10 days of food, fun and a live mascot: Cedar the Highland Cow.

The fair will last from Friday through Sept. 17.

“The most exciting new thing is Cedar the Highland Cow, which is our mascot. You can come out and meet her on both Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays of the fair,” said Erin Gurtel, director of Spokane County Fair & Expo Center.

Cedar, who is 7 months old, will be the first live mascot the fair has had in 20 years. The family that owns Cedar will be there with her, giving educational information to fair-goers about their regenerative farm.

“We want to get the word out about regenerative agriculture,” said Honey Smith, Cedar’s owner. “That’s how we operate our farm is regeneratively, we give more into the land versus kind of taking away.”

The fair’s theme, which is “It’s Showtime,” and mascot change every year, so Cedar will not be the mascot next year. Still, Cedar will be spared from the future that many farm animals receive.

“She is one of those that we’ll just keep here until her days out on the pasture are done,” Smith said. “She’s going to live a long, happy life here.”

In addition to a live mascot, the fair will have several other events this year.

The fair’s second annual “Art Walk” will take place on Friday, when 16 local artists will create original work live.

Sept. 11 will be senior/heroes day, when admission is free for those 55 and over, as well as for veterans, military members and family, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, hospital staff and police. Parking costs will be cut in half for all on senior/heroes day.

On Sept. 17, sponsored by STCU, the fair will offer free admission for all school employees.

Sept. 12 will be “Sensory Day” when, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., carnival rides and games will be played without sound, to create a calming and inclusive environment for those with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Sensory Day is sponsored by BECU.

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo will take place Friday and Saturday, the Truck and Tractor Pull on Sept. 15, and the Demolition Derby on Sept. 16 and 17.

This year’s concerts will include country singers Clint Black and Craig Morgan on Sept. 12, Martina McBride on Sept. 13, and pop band X Ambassadors on Sept. 14.

“We hope that there is something for everyone out here, and we can’t forget the favorites, the food and the carnival rides,” Gurtel said.

There will be 34 food vendors on site, as well as a variety of carnival rides and agriculture.

“We have over 200 booths out here, as well as what we call commercial exhibits so, jewelry, craft items, houseware,” Gurtel said.

Prices in some areas will be a little higher this year.

Parking is $10, to be paid in cash only. That’s twice the cost of last year’s parking.

The cost of prepurchased tickets has been raised from $8 to $10 for adults and from $6 to $7 for youth (7-13), seniors (65+), and military.

Admission costs for adults at the gate will remain the same as last year, $13, except for Friday through Sunday, when adult admission will be raised to $15. Youth, senior and military pricing at the gate is still $10, as it was in 2022.

The Spokane County Interstate Fair had 210,616 attendees last year, nearly twice as much as it had the year before, when the event was still feeling the effects of COVID.

“We know we draw people from up into Canada, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and throughout Washington state,” Gurtel said. “We would love to see our 210,000 attendees or a few more.”