Countdown to Labor Day

Nevada’s longest agricultural event begins in one week at the Churchill County Fairgrounds.

The annual Fallon Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair, which merged earlier this year, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Labor Day weekend.

The Cantaloupe Festival and Country Fair that was merged earlier this year begins at 5 p.m. next Friday for a three-day run.

The festival features entertainers such as musical groups, Civil War re-enactors, a 4-H show, produce stands, vendors’ booths of all sorts, arts and crafts and exhibits. In addition to the festival other events are planned throughout the weekend.

“Despite the drought we’ve been suffering through this year we are going to have an awesome farmers market,” said Rick Lattin, a local farmer and festival committee member. “There will be quite a selection of different produce and cantaloupe products for attendees to indulge in. We’re excited about some of the new items we’ll be offering this year.”

Lattin thinks it’s wonderful the two events are back together. He said the event has been structured around agricultural and families this year.

“The Country Fair adds to the event, and I think we’ll have a great turn out this year,” he said.

The popular festival that draws thousands of visitors every year was inspired by the rich farm land of Fallon and Churchill County and the produce grown on it.

“Overall the festival is to celebrate our community’s heritage,” Lattin said.

Meanwhile, as the festival is going on, the Churchill County Parks and Recreation Department‘s mud volleyball tournament includes double-elimination in the annual Nevada State Championship Tournament and the single-elimination consolation Cantaloupe Festival Tournament starting next Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Fallon Lions Club Junior Rodeo begins next Saturday at the fairgrounds arena and continues through Monday morning with the Top 10.

A Kiwanis-sponsored breakfast and the Labor Day parade also wrap up the weekend activities.

The 59th annual Kiwanis breakfast kicks off Labor Day from 6:30-10 a.m., in the parking lot next to E.H. Hurst Insurance on South Maine Street.

The annual Fallon Lions Club Labor Day parade, one of the oldest in the state, begins at 10 a.m.

The parade winds through Fallon beginning on South Taylor Street and ending on Maine Street near the middle school.

Labor Day has been a traditional time for politicians to visit Fallon but more so in an election year.

The festival has a $5 admission fee for seniors, adults and teens. Children under 10 years of age get in for free. The various events have slightly different hours; the Cantaloupe Festival is open Friday from 5 p.m.-midnight, Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m.-midnight and Monday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The Churchill County Fair is open Friday from 5 p.m.-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and Monday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Participants who would like to exhibit are encouraged to pick up a premium book at the Churchill County Library, Churchill County Museum, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, Flower Tree Nursery, J&K Llamas and Workman’s Farms.