1 day left at 77th Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo. What you can still see
The action for carnival thrill seekers heated up Friday afternoon at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo in Kennewick.
Riders lined up for tickets just before the noon opening of the carnival and midway, avoiding the heat of the day.
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat watch for the Tri-Cities area starting Saturday, usually the busiest day of the Benton Franklin Fair, and continuing through at least Thursday. The high temperature on Saturday is expected to be near 100.
The risk for heat-related illnesses during the extreme heat watch is rated as “major,” so weather officials are encouraging people to avoid getting overheated by staying in the shade and drinking lots of water.
The fairgrounds, at 1500 South Oak Street in Kennewick, will be open until 11 p.m. Friday night from 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday.
The five-day annual summer fair, in it 77th year, ends Saturday.
The Horse Heaven Round-up rodeo continues Friday and Saturday nights, gates open at 6 p.m. Admission on Friday and Saturday starts at $15 at the box office or $17 online.
The main stage entertainers are Smash Mouth and Sir Mix-A-Lot on Friday night and Banda Carnaval on Saturday.
Concerts are free with fair admission, but reserve seats get you closer to the stage. Shows start at 7:45 p.m.
The Davis Shows Northwest carnival is still offering a variety of stomach-churning rides and games through Saturday night.
Fairground improvements
Visitors will notice some changes when they arrive this year.
The most notable is the traditional entrance and ticket booths have been removed. Fairgoers will enter through a new temporary entrance via the main parking lot, which will be clearly marked and accessible.
Parking costs $12 in person or $13.50 online. Or, free Ben Franklin Transit shuttle buses run from 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday from six park-and-ride locations.
There’s also new paved area for food concession stands and picnic tables for fairgoers to sit and enjoy their Beaver State Burritos and giant turkey legs.
After the fair wraps up, Benton County will kick off renovations to the rodeo arena.
They’ve already put $3 million worth of work into the parking lots, and expect to spend about $12 million more on a total renovation of McDaniel Arena.
The goal is to update the facility and situate it to host larger scale events throughout the year. Next year’s rodeo will have double the seating capacity thanks to the upgrades, which are expected to finish up by July.
