This year’s Island County Fair is expanding into the virtual world, allowing exhibitors to register their entries online for the first time.

Visit www.islandcountyfair.com and click on the online entry and premium book tab. Follow the instructions to register and log in your entries. You can also print temporary tags, download forms and print the premium book.

The Fair is set for Aug. 14 through 17 at the fairgrounds in Langley. Open class animal entries must be pre-registered with the fair office by Aug. 1. Once entered online or at the fair office, you can bring your open class exhibits to the fairgrounds on the following dates: Aug. 2, fine arts; Aug. 9, food preservation, sewing, needlework, quilting, photography, beer and wine, fiber arts, arts and crafts, logo contest, educational display sign-up, Lego contest sign-up; Aug. 13, baked goods, floral, fruits, vegetables, grains and grasses, and open class animals.

A special promotion this year involves giving away tickets to see famous entertainers who will appear elsewhere this summer. Daily drawings from fair admission tickets will send the winners to see Chicago, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Neil Diamond and Willie Nelson.

On the carnival side of the fair, Paradise Amusements is again offering presale ticket breaks giving thrillseekers a half day of rides for $17 any day of the fair. Tickets are available at all branches of Whidbey Island Bank and Alaska USA Federal Credit Union.

On another front, Bill Tucker is planning a tug-of-war Sunday at the fair pitting men and women from Oak Harbor against the rest of the island and eventually against Mukilteo on the mainland. The aim is to raise money for his nonprofit, Shoes for Kids, which provides shoes for needy kids islandwide. If interested in helping organize the tug-of-war, call Tucker at 360-321-3929.

Also, the fair itself needs volunteers as the pace picks up this month and next. Call 360-221-4677 to inquire, or to ask questions about anything fair-related.

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