ELK RIVER -- A local county fair is celebrating a big milestone this weekend. The Sherburne County Fair is celebrating its 130th anniversary with a special birthday party Thursday night.

The fun kicks off at 7:00 p.m. by the free stage with a variety of activities including laser tag, a cake eating contest, balloon animals and visual art.

Sherburne County Fair Board President Jenni Axelson says they decided to do away with the grandstand show in favor of the celebration.

There are a lot of new people on the fair board, and we just thought hey it's our 130th let's have a party - good family fun. So we canceled our grandstand show just so we could concentrate and try to get families out the fair. Get some good free entertainment going for them.

The bash is the first of its kind for the fair, although they did celebrate 125 with a book on the history of the fair. The activities at the party are free, but admission to the fair is not.

Axelson says another new addition to the fair this year is the Education Building.

We have a mechanical milking cow in there, some other agriculture education stuff, little magazines and stuff like that for kids.

Other fair staples will also be happening this weekend including the medallion hunt, the tractor pull, and the demolition derby.

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