Porch Notes
The Calhoun County Fair
History and culture
Every August, Marshall hosts the Calhoun County Fair — and it’s not just any fair. First held in 1839, it’s the oldest continuously running fair in Michigan. Its 45-acre fairgrounds in Marshall date back to 1848 and have been the fair’s permanent home since 1948, shaded by oak trees well over a century old.
Like county fairs everywhere, it’s a week of livestock shows, midway rides, grandstand entertainment, and fair food — but with a depth of history almost no other fair in the state can match. (The grounds went dark in 2020 for the first time in generations.)
The Calhoun County Fairgrounds are in Marshall; dates and details are posted by the fair each year.