Summer fun will kick off this Tuesday at noon with opening ceremonies of the 126th Mower County Fair.

This year’s fair will emphasize making the fair more accessible and fun for teenagers.

“Usually you go to most fairs and you see the teens just strolling around, looking for something to do. We’re trying to offer more events geared towards them, like the Guitar Hero contest on Friday,” said John Mueller, president of the fair board and Austin police lieutenant. The Guitar Hero contest goes from 9 to 11:30 p.m. at Fair Square.

Additionally, teen dances are available on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 to 11:30 p.m. at the Fair Square.

The fair is also emphasizing free or low cost entertainment in theme with this year’s slogan “Affordable Fun for Everyone.” The majority of the events are free, except for the Grandstand events and the rides at the carnival. However, both the Grandstand and the carnival have discount offers available throughout the week. Grandstand events cost $10 a seat, with children under 5 able to get in for free. This year, the Grand Pass is being offered, which is $36 for six Grandstand event tickets that can be used at any Grandstand events. The Grand Pass is available for purchase at Godfather’s Pizza. Similarly, the carnival is offering Bracelets Days throughout the length of the fair. The bracelets cost $15 and can be used like unlimited carnival tickets during the specified time of the Bracelet Days. Tuesday will be Teen Night with the bracelets available to teenagers to be used from 8 p.m. to midnight. Wednesday is Kid’s Day and the bracelets can be used from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the bracelets are available to everyone. The Saturday hours of use of 1 to 5 p.m. and the Sunday hours are 2 to 8 p.m.

This year there are several new events available for fair goers to attend, as well as additions to returning events. The first new event is the cowboy mounted Shoot-out, which takes place Friday at 7 p.m. at the Horse Arena. The event involves cowboys racing past balloon targets and target shooting them with percussion rounds. Precession rounds are not live ammunition.

The second event is the steer wrestling Jackpot on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Horse Arena. Participants ride alongside steers on their horses before jumping to the steer and wrestling it to the ground. Another new addition to the fair is the showing of a Blackhawk helicopter during the vehicle fair, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fair Square.

There are also events that run the length of the fair. The Grandstand holds events at 7 p.m. each night of the fair, except for the last event which will occur at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tuesday is the Motokazie Supercross Racing, Wednesday is the Demolition Derby, Thursday is the Great Frontier Bull Riding competition, Friday is the NTPA Tractor Pull, Saturday is the Combine Demolition Derby and Sunday is another Demolition Derby.

The FFA Children’s Farm Yard opens every fair day at 10 a.m. Children can come see live chicken and duck hatchings, along with the return of Reggie the Big Boar. Reggie is estimated to weights over 1, 200 pounds. The 4-H animal shows will run the duration, with a variety of exhibitions each day. There will be a parade on the fair grounds at 4:30 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday and at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Cannonball Smith will return to give performances Tuesday through Saturday at 6:30 and 9 p.m. He will also perform Sunday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. The beer garden will have live musical performances at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The carnival will be held throughout the fair, along with over thirty food venders.

There are also several events occurring on only one of the days of the events. On Tuesday, the Pride of Mower County award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on the Fair Square stage.

At 6:30 p.m. there will be Yesteryear Games, which include events like a pie eating contests and gunny sack races that were held during the early years of the fair. At 8 p.m. Brad Boice will perform Gospel music as Elvis at the Fair Square. He will also perform with Rush Hour in the beer garden at 9 p.m. At 10 p.m., a fireworks display will be launched near the Horse Arena.

On Wednesday, Daycare Day is available from 10 a.m. to noon. To participate, registration must be submitted prior to Wednesday.

On Thursday, Senior Day will be celebrated with Tim Howland Old Time Music on the Fair Square stage from 2 to 4 p.m. At 6:30 p.m., Ellis Middle School will perform hip-hop music on the Fair Square stage.

On Friday, the newer goat and llama 4-H animal shows will hold registrations and exhibitions. At 6:30 p.m. there will be more Yesteryear competitions.

On Saturday, the 4-H ribbon auction will begin at 9 a.m. at the Crane Pavilion. At 10 a.m. the Mower County Truck and Tractor pull will be held in the Grandstand arena. From 1 to 4 p.m. there will be the Amateur Talent Contest at the Fair Square. At 2 p.m. there will be a bean bag tournament in the Beer Garden. At 3 p.m. the Draft Horse Pulling show will take place at the Pulling Tracks in the Southwest corner of the fair grounds. From 7 to 9 p.m. Brad Boice will return to perform Rock and Roll as Elvis at the Fair Square.

At 2 p.m Sunday, the 4-H Parade of Champions will occur at the Crane Pavilion and another bean bag competition at the beer garden.

The fair is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.