ESCANABA — Animals are starting to fill the barns, carnival rides are being assembled and vendors are setting up booths for the 88th annual Upper Peninsula Fair. The fair runs Aug. 17-23 in Escanaba.

Vickie Micheau, executive director of the Delta Chamber of Commerce, says they are checking hundreds of items on hundreds of lists.

“The staff is doing a phenomenal job making sure that all of the details are covered when it comes to where the picnic tables are placed to how the flowers are groomed to making sure that everything is setup for all the grandstand acts and all of the entertainment on the grounds. There is a lot to do,” she said.

The fair starts Monday night but this weekend entries are being brought to the fairgrounds including the animals raised by 4-H kids.

“We have all the steers and hogs that are being entered so there is a lot of activity related to that. So, on Sunday, the barns are going to be incredible busy,” Micheau said.

On Saturday, the staff helped vendors find their spots on the fairgrounds and made sure they had the electricity and water that they needed.

“We’re just doing everything that we can to make sure that this fair experience is a very positive one for everybody involved,” Micheau said.

New at the fair this year are green spaces created for fairgoers to sit and eat food. Micheau said to accomplish that, that are spreading the vendors throughout the fairgrounds.

“What you’ve find this year on the midway are little spots with picnic tables under a tent where you can sit down together as a family, get off the midway and enjoy that great fair food,” she said.

This is the 6th year that the fair is being operated by U.P. State Fair Authority. Micheau said the authority is working hard to make it financially successful.

“Thanks to grants that we’ve received, the investments that we’ve made, we’ve made tremendous improvements in the buildings and facility. We’ve also worked on bringing in different groups, different activities so that income can be used to invest in the grounds and prepare for a solid future for the fairgrounds,” Micheau said.

Information on fair activities throughout the week can be found at www.upstatefair.org.