152nd Woodstock Fair opens Friday.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Kim Ring

WOODSTOCK - The 152nd Woodstock Fair opens Friday with a blend of agriculture, entertainment and edible delights.

Tickets are $12, $8 for those 65 and older, and free for children under 10.

The fair, sponsored by the Woodstock Agricultural Society, is held annually on Labor Day weekend at 281 Route 169, South Woodstock.

Gates open at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and the fair closes at 10 p.m. every day but Monday, when things wrap up at 7 p.m.

Entertainment on Friday includes a 6:15 p.m. show by John Ford Coley and an 8 p.m. show with Livingston Taylor, popular artists from the 1970s and '80s. Both will appear on the main stage.

This year's other big-name entertainers on the Main Stage include King's Row at 3 and 6:30 p.m. and Tony Orlando at 8 p.m. Saturday; Chuck Wicks at 6 and Easton Corbin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday; and Bachman-Turner at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

For those interested in agriculture, the Barnyard Babies Birthing Center will be open: At some point during the fair, some of the expectant cows in the center are expected to calf.

"The goal is to have two calves every day," Birthing Center superintendent Douglas Child said, although it's impossible to predict the exact time a cow might calf.

Other barnyard animals include baby alpacas, pigs and piglets, chickens and chicks, and goats with their kids.

There are also the very popular pulling contests with tractors, horses and oxen dragging heavy loads in competition. Tractor pulls are at 4 p.m. Friday; classic tractor pulls with vehicles made in 1960 or earlier are at 4 p.m. Saturday; pony pulls begin at noon Sunday...