Hillsdale County Fair

About Hillsdale County Fair

The Hillsdale County Fair is the 11th oldest fair in Michigan, tracing back to around 1850 and settled on permanent grounds in Hillsdale by 1860. Known since the late 1860s by the tagline "The Most Popular Fair on Earth" — first seen on train station posters advertising round-trip tickets, later painted on the grandstand in the 1930s — the fair drew roughly 70,000 visitors in 2016, more than the entire population of Hillsdale County (about 46,000). In its rail-era peak, as many as 22 passenger trains a day brought fairgoers in from as far as Fort Wayne and Elkhart, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio.

What to Expect

Expect livestock judging, 4-H and FFA competitions, carnival rides, grandstand entertainment beneath the historic painted tagline, and a genuinely large crowd for a rural county fair — one of the biggest draws in southern Michigan.

Visitor Tips

Hillsdale is home to Hillsdale College — the independent liberal arts college is nationally known and the county's agricultural heritage is deep and authentic.

Nearby County Fairs