Overview The Arlington County Fair is a five-day county fair at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington, Virginia, run by volunteers as a nonprofit, and it charged no admission from its first year in 1977 through its 50th in 2026. It runs Wednesday to Sunday in August, outdoors and in: carnival rides, a beer garden and a main stage on the grounds, and competitive exhibits, an indoor stage and more than 100 vendor booths inside the center. Its home county has about 238,000 residents, and the fair draws from across the DC region. On site In 2026 the weeknights started at 5 p.m. with the outdoor fair only, and the indoor halls opened Friday through Sunday. The 2026 midway ran a double Ferris wheel, a Super Shot drop tower, a fun slide and an inflatable ninja course, with a silent disco on Saturday night and a silent movie on Sunday. Children get performances, bounce houses, a foam party and a kid entrepreneur market. A Night Market pairs local artists with the competitive exhibits, the beer garden carries live music all five days, and sensory hours and a sensory tent serve visitors who need a quieter fair. The pie-eating contest is annual; in 2026 the Wizards, Capitals, Mystics, Spirit and D.C. United each put up a tent on Friday. Track record The fair grew out of a proposed Harvest Days festival for community-garden produce. O. Ware Page Jr. and Jean Girman led the first one in August 1977 on a $6,000 budget, a third of it rent, and at the time it was the only county fair between Gaithersburg and Manassas. Racing piglets ran through 2019. The 2020 fair was canceled, and the fair returned in person in 2022. In 2024, 85 volunteers logged 858 hours over the five days, and WUSA-9 covered it on air. Brand presence C and P Telephone, the predecessor of Verizon, was the fair's first corporate sponsor. Sponsors buy in at four levels. The title sponsor's logo goes on the volunteer T-shirts and on the banners and maps posted around the fair, with its name read at the Opening Ceremony; gold adds VIP parking and first choice of outdoor booth location; silver includes an outdoor booth; bronze starts with an indoor vendor booth and a listing in the printed program. Brands can also build a package around the main stage, the indoor stage, the Family Fun Spot or the beer garden, and in-kind partners work directly with the fair committees.