We showed up on day 1 of the Parke County Fair as advertised in the 2026 Indiana Festival Guide. No animals had arrived yet. The 4-H Exhibit Building was closed for judging, carnival rides were being erected and one lone hot dog stand was opened. We were the only visitors there! I was heart broken. Thank goodness for the hot dog stand. "Covered Dogs" was started by the Smith family. The pristine stand has a cute covered bridge theme. We talked to the owner quite a while. We were his first and only customers of the fair. He's been selling hot dogs since he retired and is a member of the Hot Dog Mafia which has monthly meetings to discuss the hot dog business. The dogs are all beef, the coney sauce comes from a family recipe and he makes the Cole slaw fresh from scratch. I had a dog covered in coney sauce and Cole slaw. My hot dog tasted fabulous and made up for the fact that we were the only ones at the fair. It was a 5 star dog. I sat alone under the dining tent eating my dog. Back to the fair, an announcement came over the loud speaker welcoming visitors to the fair. That could only have been directed at us. I was genuinely disappointed that we had driven two hours to go to the fair based on a start date in July 10 in the Festival Guide and there was nothing to see. I might suggest they work on their advertising. Fair 0 star Covered Dogs 5 stars. read more

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