Those predicting the demise of Tennessee county fairs should visit the Cumberland County Fair poultry show.

“This is the biggest (poultry) show we’ve ever had,” said Davis Manis, a fair board member and poultry show manager.

So many fowl flew in — 307 total — that 17 pens were wrangled from a neighboring county to hold them all, Mr. Manis said.

Poultry, steer, hog and sheep shows, horticulture and arts and crafts exhibits are providing entertainment and education at county fairs this month in Meigs, Sequatchie, McMinn and Cumberland counties, along with biggest and best tractors, Fairest of the Fair contests and rides like the Scrambler, Gravitron and Ring of Fire.

Next month, the Marion County Fair takes place in Jasper, Tenn.

Fairs are important to Tennessee’s rural communities, according to volunteers and attendees.

“It puts the country back into people’s lives,” said Shirley Jarner, a Crossville, Tenn., resident and Cumberland County Fair volunteer.

The Mid-East Tennessee Regional Fair in Athens added events this year, said manager Kim Womack.

Lawnmower races and belly dancing demonstrations are set for tonight , and an ATV pull (think tractor pull on a small scale) is on the schedule for Saturday afternoon.

“We try to have things you might not think you’d ever see you’ll see at the fair,” Ms. Womack said.

Meigs County native Chris Hennessee performs country music tonight at the Meigs fair in Decatur.

“We hope folks will come out and enjoy the fair with us,” fair president Bobby Roberts said. “We are proud of the community’s support of the fair.”

Cumberland County’s fair board and volunteers are proud, too. The fair logs more than 60 years this summer. It is often hailed in publicity materials as one of the top fairs in Tennessee.

The fair relies entirely on volunteers, said longtime volunteer Jack Henry, a retired ironworker who lives in Crossville. Each year, Mr. Henry puts in about 100 hours of free labor.

“Fairs are more important than they used to be, because we’re losing them,” Mr. Henry said.

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