DELAWARE — It’s almost time for the 2026 Delaware County Fair to kick off and the 81st Little Brown Jug to bring jug-junkies to their feet.
This year’s fair runs Sept. 19-26, bringing new attractions, returning favorites and plenty of familiar traditions back to the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
Before the festivities begin, here’s what fairgoers need to know.
What’s new at the 2026 Delaware County Fair?
Among this year’s attractions are wiener dog races — which happen to be one of Delaware County Fair President Chris Welker’s personal favorites.
“Some of the new stuff that we have going on here at the fair is we are going to have the wiener dog races at our motorsports complex on Wednesday night [Sept. 23],” Welker said.
More than 30 dogs are already registered to race, Welker said.
“I think we’ll have a really good turnout,” he said.
Motocross is also returning after a few years away from the fair.
“We brought back motocross this year,” Welker said. “It’d been a couple of years since we had it, so we’re going to bring it back this year.
“It’s always fun to watch those kids literally fly.”
Buying tickets online
Another change this year is how fairgoers can buy tickets.
The fair is offering different tickets and packages online ahead of fair week. Welker said the goal is to make purchasing easier and get Jug Day tickets in front of people beyond Delaware County.
“In years past, the way to get tickets was usually through our office, and it worked for a really long time,” Welker said.
The fair began accepting credit cards at its gates several years ago, he said, and online sales are the next step.
“So as we’re slowly trying to integrate more technology into the fair to make the user’s experience a lot easier, this was the next step in that process,” Welker said.
Fairgoers can view available events, tickets and packages here.
Traditions you can count on
But Welker admitted that one of the best things about the fair is its consistency.
“This is where you come when you want to get your fried food, when you want to see some animals, when you want to ride fair rides, and here in Delaware, we always have horse racing for five days,” he said.
Junior fair animal shows will fill the schedule Saturday through Tuesday before culminating in the junior fair sale Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s really fun to get over there and see the kids show off all their hard work,” Welker said.
Junior fair members will sell beef, baked goods, dairy products, rabbits and poultry on Tuesday, followed by pigs, goats and lambs on Wednesday.
Motorsports will also run throughout fair week, including tractor pulls, Figure 8 racing with trailers, the demolition derby and rough trucks.
For Welker, knowing those staples are coming is part of the fun.
“One of the best things about the fair is I know what there’s going to be, and I wait for it every year,” he said. “It builds anticipation.
“I want to see the rough trucks, I want to see the kids show, I want to see the Little Brown Jug and I know when those are because it’s fair week and this is the schedule of events.”
Parking and traffic
Welker said parking and traffic patterns this year will be the same as they’ve always been.
“We have been here forever, so, no,” he said when asked if anything traffic-related would be changing.
The fairgrounds will have four vehicle entrances, one pedestrian entrance and one exit, using the same gates as previous years.
Welker does have one traffic-related goal.
“Every year, I hope we cause a traffic jam on Thursday,” he said.
Check out the full 2026 Delaware County Fair schedule below:
