Tickets go on sale Saturday for grandstand shows

PRINCETON — Tickets for all grandstand shows at the 154th Bureau County Fair in Princeton go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday at the fair secretary’s office. This includes the 34th annual country show starring Billy Currington, with special guest Heidi Newfield, performing at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28.

Currington burst onto the Nashville scene in 2003 with the Top 10 singles “I Got a Feelin’” and “Walk a little Straighter.” Shania Twain’s smash hit  “Party for Two” featured Currington singing a duet with her. Country fans will recognize singles “Must Be Doin' Something Right," “Good Directions," "Why, Why, Why” and “Tangled Up.” His newest release “Little Bit of Everything” has spawned the No. 1 “Don’t” and  “People are Crazy” which is just entering the Top 10.

Newfield, formerly Trick Pony’s voice, departed from the platinum selling group last year. “Not wanting to be painted into a corner," her hunger to evolve made her fly the Trick Pony coop.  Her first solo album features the No. 1 song “Johnny and June,” paying tribute to the legendary Cash family, who played at the Bureau County Fair in 1981. The song generated five ACM nominations for Newfield, including Top Female Vocalist, Single Record of the Year, Single of the Year, artist and composer for Song of the Year and  Video of the Year.

Other grandstand events at the fair include donkey races at 7 p.m. Aug. 26; the speed show in the McCutchan Horse Arena on Aug. 27; the Riverbend Antique Pullers and Illini State Pullers truck and tractor pulls at noon and 6 p.m. Aug. 29; and the demolition derby at 5 p.m. on Aug. 30.

Tickets for the Bureau County Fair Queen Pageant, Little Miss Bureau County Fair and  Junior Miss Pageant, which  will take place Aug. 7 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Allen Building, are also available.

For more complete ticket information call (815) 875-2905. The ticket line at the fair office ticket window is a first-come, first-serve line for people keeping their place in line, and if orders are phoned in, orders are filled with the best remaining seats available. Mail orders will be filled after window and phone orders. Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards can be used. Orders can be sent to: Box 238, Princeton IL 61356. All advance purchased tickets include the fair’s gate admission  charge, which could save as much as $5 per ticket.