May 8, 2012 For more information contact: For Immediate Release Greg Stewart @ 248-7160

ENTERTAINMENT LINE-UP ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2012 CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE FAIR

Country, pop, rock and some nostalgia will be part of the entertainment line-up for the Central

Washington State Fair held in late September in Yakima. A diverse group of well known entertainers will be performing as part of the Les Schwab Concert Series during the ten day Fair including: country singers

Charlie Daniels and ; pop star Rick Springfield; pop/rock groups .38 Special and War; contemporary rockers Theory of a Deadman; and the 1960’s rock-n-roll group Paul Revere and the

Raiders.

Officials are sticking with a formula of providing quality entertainment during the middle part of the Fair in an effort to give patrons a chance to come out and hear some great music, not only on the weekends of the Fair but on the week nights as well.

“We think this is a great line-up of entertainers,” said Fair president and general manager Greg

Stewart. “We try to have different entertainers who appeal to all kinds of audiences, and this year we have some super entertainers set to perform.”

Rock/pop band .38 Special will appear on Saturday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m., the opening weekend of the Fair. With record sales in excess of 20 million, .38 Special’s “Hold On Loosely”,

“Rockin’ Into The Night” and “Back Where You Belong” and many others remain a staple on radio stations around the country. On the opening Sunday of the Fair, pop star Rick Springfield returns for a concert at 6 p.m.

Springfield, who is a Grammy Award winning singer and and former soap opera star played the Fair back in the 1980’s. Among his hits are “Jessie’s Girl” and “Don’t Talk To Strangers.”

On Tuesday, September 25 the Fair presents the rock band Theory of a Deadman. With over a million albums sold over the past several years, Theory of a Deadman has developed a strong following after the release of their platinum album Scars and Souvenirs that had the number one hit single “Bad

Girlfriend”. Theory of a Deadman plays at the Budweiser Stage at 7 p.m.

Country legend and Hall of Fame musician plays the Fair on Wednesday,

September 26 at 7 p.m. The longtime country singer and musician has had dozens of hits over the past four decades including “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” and “Long Haired Country Boy.”

Then, on Thurs, September 27 country singer Craig Morgan will be performing on the

Budweiser Stage. The popular singer/songrwiter has a number of hits including “Almost Home”,

“Redneck Yacht Club” and “International Harvester” among others. Morgan’s concert starts at 7 p.m.

The 1960’s rock band, Paul Revere and the Raiders, will play the Fair on Friday, September 28 at 7:30. One of the most popular groups of all time, Paul Revere and the Raiders has had dozens of hits including “Louie, Louie,” “Stepping Stone,” “Good Thing,” and “Indian Reservation” among others.

Pop group WAR, will be performing at the Fair on Saturday, September 29. With hits such as

“Low Rider”, “Cisco Kid” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends” among others, WAR will be performing in concert at 7:30 at the Budweiser Stage.

Stewart said the Fair will also be presenting a big name Latino act or acts on the final Sunday of the Fair.

At the Coca-Cola Grandstand, motor sports, a new rodeo event and a demolition derby will be back and entertaining fairgoers throughout the Fair. On the opening Friday and Saturday, September 21 and 22, the American Sprint Car Series Northwest Region races will hit the dirt for some wild racing action on the clay racing oval at the grandstand. Racing action will begin at 6:00 each evening.

Then, on opening Sunday, September 23, the Jaripeo de Lujo will be the featured entertainment at the Grandstand. The event will include several different Mexican musicians and some bull riding in one big show starting at 2 p.m.

On Friday, September 28 at 7:00 and Saturday, September 29 at 2 p.m. a new bulls and broncs- only event will take place. Called the Showdown at State Fair Corral, the all new event will feature 20 of the top bull riders and 20 of the top bronc riders in a two-day, rough stock-only competition. As part of the Showdown, the Fair will be auctioning off a colt that has been trained during the previous nine days by Dan James, renowned horse handler and trainer who just recently won the prestigious “Road To The

Horse” competition in Tennessee.

On the final Sunday of the Fair, September 30, the Coca-Cola Grandstand will be the venue for the always-popular Demolition Derby, with all the car-crashing action starting at 2 p.m.

This year the Fair will feature some other free entertainment and attractions including the return of Walk on the Wild Side, an exhibit which features a number of exotic animals and reptiles. Also returning this year to Oak Park is the popular interactive display called Barnville, where children can milk a cow, see chicks hatching and experience other barnyard animals. All these shows will be part of the Fair for the entire 10-day run

Another new attraction set for this year’s Fair is Toytopia. This huge exhibit will take over

Pioneer Hall and will feature displays that show the history of toys and how they are made. There will be a number of interactive displays and all kinds of toys from the past several decades.

Of course all the great fair foods will again be awaiting fairgoers this year as will rides, exhibits, displays, animals and other attractions that make the Central Washington State Fair the single largest entertainment event in Eastern Washington.

The Fair is selling reserved seating for all entertainment at the Budweiser Stage and Coca-Cola

Grandstand and those tickets will go on sale on Saturday, May 19 at 10 a.m. Once again this year there will be some limited no charge seats for each performance, but those seats are limited. The prices for the reserved seats run from $5 to $30. New this year is a special three pack ticket package called Triple Star Pack that gives showgoers the best seats in the house to any three of the Fair concerts for just $75. The Triple Star Pack tickets will be available for purchase from May 11 through the 18th. Fair admission will be sold separately from any reserved seating for the shows. To purchase any reserve seats call 1-800-325-SEAT.

For more information on this year’s Central Washington State Fair and the 2012 entertainment line-up, go to the Fair’s website at www.fairfun.com. This year’s Fair runs from September 21 through

September 30, in Yakima.

# # #