First held in 1949, the Heart of Illinois Fair has gone from being centered solely on rides, games, livestock competitions and food, to featuring concerts, a demolition derby and tractor pulls, as well as a Fair Queen pageant. (Heart of Illinois Fair photo)

The Heart of Illinois Fair was created out of the generosity and hard work of thousands of people in the wake of World War II.

Now, 75 years later, after changes large and small, fair organizers and attendees will celebrate its Diamond Jubilee starting Wednesday, July 17.

This year’s five-day event promises to be a celebration of the past and present, one that spans generations of fair goers.

First held in 1949, the Heart of Illinois Fair has gone from being centered solely on rides, games, livestock competitions and food, to featuring concerts, a demolition derby and tractor pulls, as well as a Fair Queen pageant.

The work to establish a county fair in Peoria began in 1945, when fundraising was launched with the goal of purchasing land from the Walter Poppins farm. After more than 24,000 people contributed money, 160 acres were purchased. On April 24, 1948, according to a 2023 article in Peoria Magazine, more than 100 people moved a quarter-million cubic tons of soil over a 40-hour period to level the site of the future fair, a round-the-clock operation that garnered national attention in Time and Life magazines.

Once covering 160 acres, the fairgrounds were cut in half in 1955, when authorities sold off acreage for eventual use as the site of Richwoods High School, which opened in 1957.

The fair operation continues to be a not-for-profit effort run by a volunteer board consisting of farmers,

The Heart of Illinois Fair has undergone numerous changes since 1949, but has remained true to its founders’ vision. (Heart of Illinois Fair photo)

business owners and members of the Farm Bureau. While the attractions may vary, fair operators are proud to have kept its agricultural roots throughout the past 75 years, with livestock shows, home arts competitions and truck and tractor pulls to go with all the carnival rides, food vendors and entertainment.

Not to mention a pie-eating contest, racing turkeys, petting zoo, and circus acts, and all the corn dogs and cotton candy you can eat.

“It’s been an (agricultural-) based fair since day one,” said Roxy Baker, the president of the fair’s board of directors. “It’s nice to see that still being recognized in the community.”

Baker recalls attending annually as a child. Her father worked for Caterpillar, as did many people back then, and the plant shut down for a week every summer.

“The Heart of Illinois Fair was our vacation,” said Baker. Those long-ago experiences still hold a special place in her heart decades later.

“People come to unplug and step back,” she said. “To me, it’s like a lot of great memories. It’s nostalgia and I love it. It’s like a big, warm hug.”

Baker, who grew up on a small family farm, believes many families, especially younger families, enjoy being able to share with their children what they enjoyed as children. She is particularly fond of the livestock shows and the Home Art exhibits.

And, of course, a demolition derby, lemonade shake up and a corn dog ain’t a bad way to spend the afternoon.

The Heart of Illinois Fair has undergone numerous changes since 1949, but has remained true to its founders’ vision. As a 2023 article in Peoria Magazine put it, “The Heart of Illinois Fair isn’t the same … And yet it is.”

Five years ago the fair began selecting “Queens” in three age categories to act as representatives to the public. The Queen Pageant takes place two hours after the 4 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, at the Opera House.

Pageant Director Haley Ebeling said the competition has had between 20 and 30 girls and young women participate, with 20 scheduled for this year, drawing from eight counties, including Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford.

“It’s definitely a family friendly event,” said Ebeling. Each contestant will be interviewed by judges, be asked questions on stage, give a one-minute speech and participate in an evening-gown competition.

Besides being poised and articulate, Ebeling said, girls looking to represent the fair to the public should be “outgoing, friendly and approachable.”

“It’s a good opportunity to get outside of their comfort zone,” Ebeling said of the interview process and public speaking, which she considers essential life skills.

Baker said a main priority of the board is to keep the fair as affordable as possible.

“We have not raised our gate (admission price) in 10 years,” she said. To that end, besides ticket sales, the fair relies on tax-deductible donations and offers sponsorships opportunities to fund operations.

The fair operation, she said, has two paid employees, and an army of volunteers, including an all-volunteer fair board of directors. She said those volunteers, many of whom have served for 20 and even 30 years, “are instrumental to pulling off the fair every year.”

This year general admission is free for children under 6, $5 for ages 6-12 and $10 for ages 12 and up. Packages for the carnival rides off the midway are extra.

The fair enjoyed its largest attendance in 1974, with just under 310,000 people through the turnstiles. During the 1970s and ’80s, the fair’s Grand Stand hosted numerous big-name acts, including Jan and Dean, Tanya Tucker, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, The Cowsills, Kenny Rogers, The Oak Ridge Boys, Faith Hill, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Collective Soul and REO Speedwagon, among many others.

But such attractions are expensive; the Peoria Journal Star reported in 2016 that the fair’s nine-day grandstand budget ballooned from $50,000 in the late 1960s to $180,000 by the end of the decade — ($525,000 in 2016 dollars).

Those financial realities forced authorities to focus on more up-and-coming middle-level acts. Since 2004 the fair’s exhibition tent has featured a variety of mid-level music acts and popular cover bands.

Baker noted that since the first fair in 1949, then on the outskirts of Peoria, the city has grown around the fairgrounds, encircling it. The fairgrounds are now in the center of Peoria Heights, to the north of downtown Peoria.

In many ways, for Baker and others, the Heart of Illinois Fair remains a vacation of sorts, a place filled with a mix of old memories and present pleasures, where generations can share similar experiences.

However modern some attractions are, The Heart of Illinois Fair is like a time capsule. Says Baker, “It’s like a museum. Showing how we got where we are.”

She considers it all an opportunity to “step back” from the habits of this modern life and spend time with family and friends in a present with a different pace and focus.

“I think what I want people to do is just come out and enjoy themselves,” said Baker. “Enjoy what it is and don’t make it more than it is.”