The Fair is back: six days at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds, starting Wednesday

You can feel it coming. The nights cool off, the sun quits a little earlier, and somewhere in the back of your mind a voice starts asking about fried dough. Around here that adds up to one thing: the Great Schaghticoke Fair opens Wednesday, September 2 and runs six days, through Labor Day, September 7, at the fairgrounds at 69 Stillwater Bridge Road.

This is the 200-and-some-year edition. The fair dates to 1819, which means it was drawing crowds before the town had most of its roads, and it is still the place where the whole valley ends up at least once before school settles in: barns and 4-H exhibits, midway rides, live music, and food engineered to be eaten standing up.

Opening day is the bargain day

Wednesday is built for families. Rides are $2 on opening day (with a minimum purchase of 10 rides), the gates open at 10 a.m., the Dreamland Amusements midway spins up at noon, and it all runs until 10 p.m. And this is true all six days: children 13 and under get in free.

Dreamland brings a full midway, topped by the Giant Wheel, which stands around a hundred feet. High enough for a magnificent view of the fairgrounds, and high enough to reconsider the sausage-and-peppers decision you made five minutes earlier.

New for 2026: a circus and (a change of plans) reptiles

Two new shows make their fair debut this year, and both are free with admission:

• Circus Murcia, a big-top circus with high-wire performers, aerialists, jugglers, clowns, and something called the Globe of Death, which is exactly what it sounds like and will be the first thing your kids describe at dinner.
• A Live Reptile Adventure Show, presented by the Wildlife Adventure Center and Wild America on Tour: reptiles from five continents up close, with hands-on audience participation and, per the billing, help overcoming common fears. It runs several times a day, every day of the fair.

The reptiles are a late substitution, and the story behind it is a strange one: the sea lion show originally booked for 2026 cancelled after the truck carrying three of its sea lions crashed on a Missouri interstate on August 13. The animals came through unhurt, and the fair says they’re expected in 2027. The full story, including what federal inspection records say about the show’s operator, is in our report on the crash and what it means for the fair.

There’s also free Agri-Golf mini golf for all ages from 11 a.m. on opening day, for anyone who has wondered what would happen if farming and miniature golf had a baby.

The music

Opening day on the Park Stage: Nicholas Horace at 2:30 and 4 p.m., then The Hard Luck Souls bring their hard-rock-and-blues set at 7 and 8:30 p.m.

Later in the week the grandstand takes over, with country headliners Chris Cagle on Friday, September 4 (the Play It Loud 25th Anniversary Tour) and Braxton Keith on Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 p.m. Our events page has the lineup, and tickets are at schaghticokefair.org/buytickets.

The week, day by day

The fair has published its full daily schedule, which runs to dozens of items a day: reptile shows, oxen demonstrations, junior chef contests, Albany Police horse-and-dog demos, the beer garden from noon. The marquee items:

• Wednesday, Sept. 2: $2-ride opening day. Pickup Truck Pull at the grandstand at 6, The Hard Luck Souls on the Park Stage at 7 and 8:30.
• Thursday, Sept. 3: the bargain doubleheader. Military Appreciation Day (free admission with military ID) and Senior Day ($5 admission), plus buy-one-get-one ride wristbands from noon. Garden tractor pulls in the morning, Double Figure-8 Demolition at the grandstand at 7, and a Donny Elvis set in the afternoon.
• Friday, Sept. 4: farm tractor pulls at 11 and 6, then Chris Cagle on the Park Stage at 7:30.
• Saturday, Sept. 5: the big one. Monster Truck Freestyle at 2 and 7 (free with admission), a Powerwheels demolition derby for the little ones at 3, Braxton Keith at 7:30, and fireworks at 9:30.
• Sunday, Sept. 6: NYTPA sanctioned tractor pulls at noon and 6:30, StonesAlive (the Rolling Stones tribute) at 5 and 8, and watermelon-eating contests in between.
• Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7: the Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby at 1 and 6, pie-eating contests at 3, and the Larger Than Life boy-band experience closes the fair at 7:30.

Ride wristbands run $30 on Friday and $35 Saturday through Monday, admission separate. Every day also brings Circus Murcia (three shows), the reptile show (three shows), and the free Agri-Golf from 11.

Don’t skip the barns

The midway gets the noise, but the barns are the point. The fair has been an agricultural showcase for generations, and wandering the livestock barns and 4-H exhibits is where kids discover that milk does not originate in aisle seven. The farm families and 4-H members who fill those barns are the reason there has been a fair since 1819, and they earn the visit.

If you go

• September 2 through 7, Schaghticoke Fairgrounds, 69 Stillwater Bridge Road, about ten minutes up Route 40 from Speigletown.
• Opening day Wednesday: gates 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., midway noon to 10, $2 rides with a 10-ride minimum.
• Kids 13 and under free all week. Tickets and the full schedule at schaghticokefair.org.

One local scheduling note: opening night is also the night of the Planning Board’s public hearing on the Eastover Road dog daycare, 7 p.m. at Town Hall. It is entirely possible to speak your piece and still make the 8:30 set. We checked the math.

See you at the Fair.

Opening-day details from Rensselaer County Tourism’s announcement; image courtesy of Rensselaer County Tourism. Grandstand lineup and daily schedule from the fair’s own published schedule. The sea lion cancellation is from the fair’s announcement; crash details from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and KOMU 8’s reporting, including its review of the operator’s USDA inspection records. Confirm times and prices at schaghticokefair.org before you go.