In just two days - at noon Thursday - the gates in Sedalia will open for the 117th annual Missouri State Fair.
"We've got a lot of the traditional stuff, obviously," Fair Director Mark Wolfe said last week. "I still think, when it comes right down to it, it's the best bang for your buck in the summer - if you want to spend some of your time with your family at a wholesome event, where there's all kinds of things and a little bit of something for everybody."
Wolfe has been with the Missouri State Fair for 14 years, and has been its director for the last decade.
At its core, the fair remains a showcase for agriculture and - for some - a continuation of the competition that helped spur creation of the fair in the late 1800s.
"We still, to this day, stay true to those roots of what the idea behind the original fair was," Wolfe said, "which was a place to come and show off your skills in growing this or growing that, or raising this or raising that, against your neighbor and the best of the best of Missouri agriculture - in a friendly competition."
That has remained true even in the era when nearly everyone - especially young people - seem tied to their cell phones and other devices.
"Our numbers of 4-H and FFA exhibitors stays pretty constant - we might fluctuate as much as a few hundred from one year to the next," he explained, "and just that group of youth constitutes nearly half of our total entries" that run about 30,000 total each year.
Among the daily promotions is the Missouri Farmers Care Food Drive, he noted.
"This year, it's a $2 Tuesday so, if you bring two cans of food, you get in for $2, if you're an adult," Wolfe said.
Regular adult admission is $10. Seniors, ages 60 and older, pay $7, and children 6-12 pay $2.
"We are looking forward to raising lots of money for the Missouri food banks again, this year, he said.
Fair visitors still generally come from Mid-Missouri and the western part of the state, Wolfe said, with St. Louis area and Bootheel residents more likely to go to fairs in neighboring states.
The Grandstand entertainment continues to have a rural, country flavor because, Wolfe said, that's what's been most successful.
"We've increased the amount of fireworks because of a local sponsor, Bryant Motors," he said, "so, we've got six nights of fireworks this year - normally, we do two or three" following the end of the Grandstand concert.
Wolfe expects the State Fair will continue to be a part of Missouri each summer - even as some states have decided they don't need one.
"I can't really foresee us not having that - this venue and a state fair - but things change," he said. "And it's hard to say, down the road, how that's going to be addressed or how it's looked at."
Missouri taxpayers provide capital improvements money for construction and maintenance projects at the fairgrounds, Wolfe noted, but the State Fair otherwise is "pretty close" to being self-sustaining.
It hasn't gotten state general revenue money for operations since 2011, he noted, and regular attendance of 350,000-400,000 per year helps.
However, a year or two of bad weather can set things back substantially.
Weather conditions have a major effect on the fair each year, he said - and they're totally out of his, or his staff's, control.
However, Missouri's been in a heat wave for much of the summer and those conditions can affect the State Fair in August even though it happened in June or July.
"I definitely think you can have an impact from the earlier weather, because of how it affects our farmers and there are a lot farm families involved at the fair," Wolfe explained.
"When the crops aren't doing well and prices are down, and things like that affect their income, that affects their ability to come and be a part of the fair and do the things they like to do out here."
He's not sure how the current political battle over tariffs - which reportedly are having some impact on farm incomes around the nation - will affect attendance at this year's fair.
After the 2008 recession, he said, "that following year at the fair we had a very good year. It was a great way for people to do a vacation with their family at a place much more affordable than going to some theme parks or other places, or traveling across the states."
Attendance has risen and stayed up, Wolfe said, "and our campgrounds are full throughout the fair, now, rather than just the first weekend."
Preliminary forecasts predict high temperatures in the upper 80s or low 90s during the fair's 11-day run, with scattered showers possible in the middle of next week.
"In my experience, the heat's worst than rain in terms of turning people away," Wolfe said.
Part of their preparation is to "just try to do the things that you can to make it more comfortable for folks if the weather is hot, and (have) cover for them to get under if it's raining, and things like that," he said.