Rain hits Boone County Fair, motorcycle races canceled

Two fair workers walk down the stretch of carnival rides at Boone County Fair. After a long day of rain Tuesday, fairgoers attended later in the evening.   ¦  SARAH FLAGG/Missourian

COLUMBIA — The weather wasn't fair, but the Boone County Fair saw large crowds Tuesday even though it rained for most of the afternoon and some events were canceled.

George Harris, a county fair board member, said about 17,000 people attended Monday night, and numbers were still pretty high Tuesday, though he didn’t have an estimate.

“I’m surprised that the crowd this evening is as good as it is,” Harris said.

The rain stopped later in the afternoon, but it wasn't soon enough to keep the flat-track motorcycle races, an addition to the fair this year, from being canceled. Columbia resident Scotty Cook, who was running the races, said he and the Boone County Fair Board decided to cancel them at about 4:45 p.m.

There were four planned races in the event, which was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Two of those events — pit bikes and quads — were postponed to Wednesday night's hobby stock car races. The other two — vintage class and pro class — will most likely be rescheduled sometime within the week, Cook said.

Rain is expected to continue throughout the rest of the week, but there are still many indoor events, including a pony pull and fiddling contest Wednesday evening.

The carnival started Monday night, but if it looks like it will rain, fair staff must stop all rides, Harris said.