Friday fun: County 4-H fairs

Fair lovers, rejoice. With the start of the Indiana State Fair just two weeks away, it’s 4-H season north of 96th.

The Hamilton County 4-H Fair runs through Tuesday at the fairgrounds in Noblesville. Boone County’s annual celebration of all things agrarian, meanwhile, runs through Thursday in Lebanon.

OK, embarrassing admission time: I grew up in a city and was completely unaware of the county fair phenomenon until I was assigned to cover one during a college internship (a rite of passage for “cub” reporters).

So although I’ve been a regular at the state fair since moving to central Indiana more than a decade ago, I’ve never been to a county fair in this neck of the woods. I expect that to change this weekend.

I’ve perused the schedules (Hamilton here; Boone here) and found some promising possibilities.

There’s an ice cream churn-off at 7 tonight in Hamilton County, for example, and something called the Llama Limbo at 6 p.m. Saturday. Boone County has a rabbit costume contest Saturday at 1 p.m. and a table-top model tractor pull at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Fair veterans, what are some of your favorites? And most importantly, should I take money for fried cheese?