ALTAMONT — With expected temperatures in the low 80s and only the final day of the five-day event forecasted as a toss-up, the dog days of summer, it would appear, are set to take a few days off for next week’s Altamont Fair. 

Running from Tuesday, Aug. 13, to Sunday, Aug. 18, this year’s fair will build on its agricultural foundation to include a comedian magician, races featuring the most-regal of sausaged-shaped dogs, and local grapplers engaged in a squared-circle showdown just off the midway. 

On Thursday evening, at 6 p.m., corgi races on the grandstand will take place. 

Short-legged and potato-bodied, corgis have become a genuine phenomenon due to their affiliation with the British royal family, in particular, Queen Elizabeth II, who, over her 96 years, owned over 30 of the breed.

Organized by the New York State Capital Region Corgi Events group and sponsored by Benson's Pet Center and Starbucks in Loudonville, the race is open to any vaccinated corgi over a year-and-a-half old.

“Starbucks will be there offering puppuccinos,” small cups of whipped cream, “to the participants in the race,” said Pat Canaday, a director emerita of the Albany Schenectady Green County Agricultural and Historical Societies, the organization behind the fair.

On Saturday, starting at 6 p.m., the men and women of The Dynasty, an Albany-based independent wrestling promotion, are scheduled to do battle in five matches, culminating in a 20-man over-the-top-rope elimination match. 

Performing twice a day, every day of the fair, comedian-magician Dewayne Hill’s brand of “G-rated Side-Splitting Comedy and Amazing Breathtaking” close-up magic is a first for the fair.  Hill, who auditioned for America’s Got Talent, is scheduled to perform daily at 12:30 and 4:30 p.m., at different areas throughout the fairgrounds. 

Canaday noted this year’s additions are a little outside-of-the-box for Altamont, but not too unusual in that “people had asked about it,” causing fair organizers to say, “So let’s figure it out. Let’s see if it’s something that works for us.”

Canaday told The Enterprise on Aug. 5,  “Yeah, it is different.” But she went on,  “It’ll be fun, just trying to do something different for people. Let’s see if this is it.”

Favorites

In addition to the new performers and events, there are quite a few favorites, old and new, coming back to Altamont this year:

— On Friday evening, the Lucky E Rodeo Company will bring back its riding competition;

— The demolition derby, which itself was on a 10-year hiatus  from the fairgrounds before making a return in 2019, will take place Sunday, at 6 p.m., with the likely highlight of the event being intermission, when the kids’ Power Wheels derby takes center stage;

— The sea lion splash program, which also came back to the fair recently after time away, is scheduled for three shows a day, at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m.;

— After years away, the Royal Hanneford Circus returned to Altamont in 2019. Shows will take place three times a day, at noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m.;

— Also scheduled for three shows a day, at 11:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., are a fair mainstay, Robinson’s racing pigs. 

Improved infrastructure

Though not a featured event or program, there’s hardly a fair attendee who hasn’t at one time or another been subject to the grounds’ less-than-stellar infrastructure. 

In 2019, the fairgrounds’ parking lots became unusable due to record-breaking rain, leaving administrators scrambling to find a way to bus attendees to and from Guilderland High School.

This year, Canaday said, the fair “put a lot of money into infrastructure … we’ve done some significant work to improve the drainage to try to avoid some of the flooding that we've had in the past.”

Canaday said the state Department of Agriculture and Markets helped alleviate some of the flooding through a grant that went towards the installation of piping, stone, and fabric on site. 

Additionally, Canaday said, “We created a new sidewalk area to get from the bottom of Gate 2 over to our alternate parking lot at Arlington [Street].”

Pricing

Last year, a change was made to the way attendees pay to enter and partake in fair activities. The move was met with criticism, largely in the way all complaints today are issued: posting online. 

In 2022, an all-inclusive ticket cost $22. 

That pricing model was changed last year when the price of admission alone for an attendee over 10 years of age was reduced to $13; single-ride tickets were sold for $1.50 each, with unlimited single-day ride passes costing $25.

Asked about the price change, Canaday said, “The people who didn’t use the rides were thrilled that the price did not include them,” illustrating there are perhaps a number people who attend the fair for its agricultural events, live entertainment, and general atmosphere, rather than for the midway raiders and games.

“So the people who ride a lot are not happy because the rides are no longer included,” Canaday said, but the price change gives a lot of other people a choice in how they choose to attend. 

On Tuesday, general admission at the gate is $10; children under 10 get in free all week; Wednesday through Sunday gate admission is $15; tickets can be purchased online in advance for $13; single-day unlimited ride admission is $25. 

On Wednesday, admission is free for senior citizens and for active and veteran members of the military. 

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The Altamont Fair’s general hours of operation are Tuesday, Aug. 13, from noon to 10 p.m., with rides starting at 2 p.m. ; Wednesday through Saturday, from noon  10 p.m.; and Sunday, from noon to 8 p.m.