The biggest little fair in the U.P. of Michigan

Family-friendly fun, tasty food, award-winning livestock, and classic carnival rides.

Friends of the Dickinson County Fair Courtenay Kyllonen, Lisa Bedard, and Tara Coss

For 113 years, the Dickinson County Fair has been marking the end of summer and attracting more than 50,000 people to Norway, Michigan in the week leading into Labor Day weekend.

The fairgrounds sit on one of two county parks in Dickinson County. The county commissioners oversee the fair event coordination and appoint a working board to handle many different departments. 

Planning for the fair is a year-round process involving countless volunteer hours devoted to every aspect of the annual event, such as market vendors, barn exhibits, live entertainment, and carnival attractions.

We met with Lisa Bedard as she and a team of dedicated volunteers prepare for the 2023 fair, all with a passion for the fairgrounds and its potential. For Lisa and her husband, Tom, the fairground has been a family project that has involved both Tom's parents and the couple’s daughters for over 50 years.

Lisa walked us through the many buildings on the grounds, including the centerpiece rotunda, built as a public works project during the Depression era, and an expansive horse arena.

The grandstand arena serves as the home track of the Norway Speedway. Stockcar races keep the town buzzing on summer weekends and are a staple for fair attendees when the season champions are crowned on Sunday.

The south end of the grounds has 144 campground sites, which are open spring-fall and offer reasonable daily, weekly, and monthly rates with direct accessibility to Norway's trail system.

With only a portion of the income from the fair redistributed back to ongoing fairground maintenance and improvement efforts, the Friends of the Dickinson County Fair rely on sponsorships and donations. Community members are invited to be a part of the Friends of the Dickinson County Fair. To learn more about supporting the vision and helping develop this Norway gem, visit dickinsoncountyfair.com/. 

Rain or shine, we'll see you at the Fair for family-friendly fun, tasty food, award-winning livestock, and classic carnival rides.