The DuQuoin State Fair is an annual festival, centering on the themes of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, hosted by the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on a 1,200-acre fairground site adjacent to the southern Illinois town of

Du Quoin Du Quoin ( ) is a city in Perry County, Illinois. It is best known for hosting the annual DuQuoin State Fair and the Street Machine Nationals. The population is estimated at 5,761 in the 2020 census. Geography Du Quoin is located at (38.0068, ...

. The

state fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

has been celebrated almost every year since 1923. Currently, the fair is held annually over an 11-day period concluding on

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

of each year.

History and current events

The DuQuoin Fair was organized in 1923 by William R. "W.R." Hayes and a consortium of Du Quoin developers. They promoted the private-sector enterprise as a short-duration race meeting specializing in

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

. Starting with a half-mile track, the developer eventually built the mile-long

DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in Du Quoin, Illinois, about southeast of St Louis, Missouri. It is a stop on the ARCA Menards Series, USAC Silver Crown Series and American Flat Track. Histor ...

on the fairgrounds. The racetrack hosted the Hambletonian trotting event in 1957-1980 and the ''World Trotting Derby'' in 1981-2009. The racetrack is used today for ARCA and USAC motor sporting events. With the departure of the Hambletonian, the DuQuoin Fair faced economic challenges and was taken over from the private sector in the 1980s by the state of Illinois. Since that time, it has been operated by the

Illinois Department of Agriculture The Illinois Department of Agriculture is the code department of the Illinois state government that regulates various facets of the agriculture industries of Illinois, oversees Illinois soil and water conservation, supervises the weights and meas ...

as a state fair with a distinctive

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

heritage. Although the host town of the fair is spelled "Du Quoin", with a space, the Department of Agriculture refers to the fair as the "DuQuoin State Fair", with the space omitted. No fair was held between 1942–45 nor 2020.

References

{{Authority control August events Fairs in Illinois September events State fairs Traveling carnivals Festivals established in 1923