Southcentral Kentucky’s fair season is about to kick off with fun designed to please the whole family.

The Barren County fair will be Thursday through Saturday and then continue Monday through July 23 at the Barren County Fairgrounds at 10168 Tompkinsville Road. Cost is $10 for people 3 feet tall and over and free for those under 3 feet tall. The fair is sponsored by the Temple Hill Lions Club.

The livestock shows will be Thursday through Saturday. The youth sheep goat and hog show will be at 5 p.m. Thursday. The open beef and cattle show will be at 7 p.m. Thursday. The dairy cattle show will be at 6 p.m. Friday. The open horse show will be at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The carnival rides, which are supplied by Miller Spectacular, will be Monday through July 23. Gates open at 6 p.m. The fair ends at 10 p.m.

There will also be beauty pageants. The baby show will be at 7 p.m. Monday. The preteen and teen pageants will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Miss and Mrs. Barren County Fair pageants will be at 7 p.m. July 21.

An outlaw truck and tractor pull will be at 7 p.m. Monday and July 22. An antique tractor pull will be at 7 p.m. Monday.

“Those are big events,” fair manager William Myatt said.

A lawn mower pull starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday. There will also be a concert with Shayne Vaughn opening at 6 p.m. and Country Strong performing at 7 p.m.

Laser tag, which is free with paid admission, will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We had a lot of kids line up to play last year,” Myatt said.

A new event will be a pony and mule pull at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“We always try to find something to add to the fair that’s different,” Myatt said. “This year we decided to give that a shot and see if that will bring some people out.”

Two corn hole tournaments and an ATV rodeo will be at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, July 21.

Coca-Cola Talent Program will be at 6 p.m. July 23, followed by karaoke no later than 8 p.m. Also on July 23 will be a Bull Whip Rodeo main event at 7 p.m.

“It will be the first time we’ve had a rodeo at the fairgrounds, which we’ve been at since 1992,” Myatt said. “We hope the county will enjoy it.”

The 65th annual Southern Kentucky Fair will be July 30 through Aug. 6 at the SOKY Fairgrounds at 980 Morgantown Road. Gates open at 6 p.m. Cost is $12 per person except Aug. 1-3, when admission is $10 when you bring five cans to donate to the Barren River Area Safe Space pantry. For more information about the fair, visit sokyfair.org.

“As a matter of fact, we’ll deliver (the canned goods) to (BRASS) on Thursday,” said fair chairman Brook Talley.

The fair is sponsored by the Bowling Green-Warren County Jaycees. Proceeds go to support the programming that the Jaycees give back to the community, Talley said.

“The biggest thing is the Christmas Kids Tour,” he said. “In the past, we’ve taken 50 kids Christmas shopping.”

Pageants for ages birth to 21 will be July 30 at Warren Central High School at 559 Morgantown Road. Doors open at 9 a.m. All pageants are state qualifiers.

The carnival, provided by Paradise Amusements, will be Aug. 1-6. South Warren High School cheerleaders will do a dunking booth.

There will be 4-H events. A beef show check-in will be at 4 p.m., with the show at 5 p.m. Aug. 1. A youth livestock show check-in will be at 4 p.m., with the show at 5 p.m. Aug. 2. A dairy show check-in will be at 9 a.m., with the show at 10 a.m. Aug. 3.

All track events will start at 7 p.m. A mini-tractor pull will be on Aug. 1.

“Basically, they sit behind a car engine and pull a sled down the track,” Talley said.

On Aug. 2 and Aug. 4, there will be compact figure-eight races. Truck and tractor pulls will be Aug. 3. A compact car demolition derby will be Aug. 5. A full-sized demolition derby will be Aug. 6.

The fair draws about 25,000 during the course of the whole week, Talley said.

“It’s family fun for a reasonable price,” he said. “The proceeds go back into the community to support people.”

Other fairs include the Logan County Fair, which will be from Monday through July 23 and July 30 at the Logan County Extension Agency complex and the Edmonson County Fair, which will be Sept. 9-17.

— Follow features reporter Alyssa Harvey on Twitter @bgdnfeatures or visit bgdailynews.com.