It was, both literally and figuratively, the calm before the storm.
The bottles were all lined up against the wall, awaiting their executioners. The lights were on at the rides, but the vehicles were frozen in place like cars on I-95 and crowded with fair workers savoring their last moment of downtime before the floodgates opened.
One mechanical bull sat in his inflatable arena, glaring out at the first of his would-be challengers.
As the Arlington County Fair got off to a rainy start yesterday (Wednesday), there was a lull before the gates officially opened. Some of the food vendors were putting the final touches on their iconic — if calorically questionable — dishes.
“There have been a lot of changes,” said Mike Abbassy, overseeing his International Grill as the last Italian sausages roasted. “For food vendors it changed a lot; we used to be on the other side of the fair.”
Abbassy has been working the Arlington County Fair for 23 years.
He’s from Virginia and said he has lots of family members in Arlington who visit during the weekend. Abbassy said he enjoys working the Arlington County Fair for the atmosphere and the kindness of the attendees.
He also said County staff have helped to make the process smooth for fair workers.
“One year when it was raining hard, we got messed up in the grass,” Abbassy said, “but we did okay and the people working for the County were very patient with us.”
The Arlington County Fair, first established in 1976, is a five-day festival of food, rides, games and more at 3501 2nd St S.
This year marks the first time Arlington County’s Department of Parks and Recreation has taken over fair management, a new partnership that has opened the doors to changes like allowing alcohol on fairgrounds.
Even before the fair officially opened, cars lined 2nd Street S. in defiance of organizers’ pleas to take the shuttle from Ballston. Streets for a mile around the fair were marked with signs prohibiting on-street parking. Local children got in on the carnival atmosphere with booths along the street, hawking cold drinks to foot traffic.
Entry is free. Ride tickets cost $1.25 each, or can be purchased in packs of 24 for $25 and 72 for $60.
Near Abbassy, the carnival games were all set up and ready to go, with workers sitting around just waiting for the gates to open. Lawrence, a seven-year veteran of the County Fair, sat by a row of ostentatious high strikers.
“I’m retired, so this gives me an opportunity to interact with the kids,” Lawrence said. “We design these games so every kid that comes in walks away with a prize. We built the one on the end so even toddlers can come in and play.”
A worker by the name of Shorty, working at one of the games, started working fairs in 1982.
“I love travelling and meeting new people,” Shorty said. “I’ve been all over the United States from the Canadian border and back. You see the bad and you see the good.”
Shorty said one of his favorite spots on the fair circuit is Mississippi. One of the hardest parts of the job, he said, is being looked down on wherever he travels.
“There’s a spot in Mississippi I went one time and the people there really treat you like people,” Shorty said. “If you’re a carnie, they think you’re a thief, they think you’re out to take a dollar. But nobody makes you come here and put a dollar down — that’s up to you. We’re just out here to make a little money. … We’re out here to have fun and help you win prizes too. Carnies are just like a regular person.”
Shorty said there’s an old stereotype of carnival games as being designed as intentionally impossible to win. He said that was more true when he started, but has changed with time.
“Back when I first started there were a lot of games that were hard to win, but they mostly got rid of them,” Shorty said. “Every game gets checked so people can win. Most carnivals got rid of games that were hard to beat because they understood people don’t want to play them if they can’t win.”
William Cook, a fair worker at a basketball-type game a few stops away, said he loves coming to the County Fair and said, similarly, the stereotype of carnival games as scams is outdated.
“At this game, you always win a prize,” Cook said.
Cook said the workers love when people win big just as much as the players.
“I remember there was a little kid once,” he said. “His parents had to put him up [on the counter] and he made every basket.”
Cook added that another outdated notion is that the rides are unsafe.
“People always think the rides are unsafe because they have to take them down and put them back up,” Cook said, “but they have to be inspected like [rides] at Busch Gardens or Kings Dominion.”
The mechanical bull is tended by Grayson Kasemeyer, an Arlington resident for whom the County Fair is an annual homecoming.
“I’ve been here since 2014,” Kasemeyer said. “One fun memory I have is a girl who fell and her feet kicked the lightbulb [at the top of the tent] out.”
Kasemeyer said the bull is harder than it looks but shared a tip.
“People don’t do as well as they think they will,” Kasemeyer said. “The tip is: when you ride the bull, move your weight in the saddle right next to the rope. The whole time you ride, that’s what you have to do.”
The County Fair is running through Sunday at the following times.
- Thursday, Aug. 14: 5-10:30 p.m.
- Friday, Aug. 15: 2-10:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Aug. 16: 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 17: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
