The Southern Kentucky Fair is a great event and rich in history.

It began in 1952 as a carnival in the old National Guard Armory on what is now Old Morgantown Road. It was moved to Warren County High School, the Moose Lodge, Beech Bend Park and for more than 40 years has been at Lampkin Park.

Many friendships and memories have been made during this time and Sunday marked the beginning of the 48th annual fair.

Thousands of people will pour through the gates for the event, which runs through Saturday.

The SOKY Fair offers a lot of options and fun things to do.

The event hosts the Miss Southern Kentucky Fair Pageant, which was won by Alex Perkins of Elizabethtown, a University of Kentucky broadcast journalism student.

On Monday, carnival rides opened and there was a beef show in the ag building. Tonight is Family Night along with a lamb and goat show in the ag building.

Wednesday will offer a dairy show in the ag building and a truck pull at the track.

Those who come out Thursday will have the opportunity to see the SOKY Bed Race and a karoake contest on the stages.

Those who like demolition derbies will have the opportunity to see one Friday, and on Saturday there will be a tractor pull at the track and different bands will perform, as well.

The event is organized by the Bowling Green-Warren County Jaycees, which uses profits the fair generates to benefit the community.

The organization uses the money to help many local charities, including the Christmas Shopping Tour for about 50 underprivileged children, Western Kentucky University scholarships for five local graduates, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Bowl for Kids Sake and the Family Enrichment Center’s Run and Walk for Kids.

These are all great causes and we encourage people from the region to attend a fair that offers so much variety, it should appeal to almost everyone.