Twenty-three events across ten counties
The Pittsburgh and Its Countryside region carries 23 of the 122 listings in this directory, spread across Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
The regional season is short. It opens June 23 and its last listing ends September 13, which means the whole thing fits into roughly twelve weeks. That is nearly six weeks before the statewide calendar closes in late October, so if you are in southwestern Pennsylvania and looking for an October fair, you will be driving east.
Late June and early July: the region opens
The Mountain Area Fair in Farmington, Fayette County, opens the region June 23 to 27.
July starts with two very different events on the same holiday weekend. The Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival runs July 2 to 5 in Latrobe, tagged artisan, music, cultural and food-festival with crafts, food, kids' activities and live music listed. The Big Butler Fair opens July 3 in Prospect and runs nine days to July 11, one of the region's few listings carrying a music category tag.
Mid-July: three fairs and one single-day event
The Derry Township Agricultural Fair runs July 12 to 18 in New Derry, and the Jacktown Fair runs July 14 to 18 in Wind Ridge, Greene County.
The Ligonier Highland Games is a single-day event on July 18, one of only two single-day listings in the entire state directory. The Sewickley Township Community Fair in West Newton then takes the following week, July 20 to 25.
Westmoreland carries five, Fayette four
Westmoreland County has the most listings in the region with five: the arts festival in Latrobe, the Derry Township fair, the Ligonier games, the Sewickley Township fair in West Newton, and the Westmoreland Fair in Greensburg, August 21 to 29.
Fayette County has four, and they are unusually well spaced. Mountain Area in June, the Fayette County Fair in Dunbar July 30 to August 8, the Dawson Grange #419 Community Fair August 10 to 15, and the Bullskin Township Community Fair in Mount Pleasant August 16 to 22. That is a fair somewhere in the county on most weekends from late June through late August.
Counties that run in pairs
Five more counties carry exactly two listings each, and in every case they are separated by weeks rather than competing for the same weekend.
Butler pairs the Big Butler Fair in early July with the Butler Farm Show in Butler, August 10 to 15. Greene pairs Jacktown in mid-July with the Greene County Fair in Waynesburg, August 9 to 15. Washington pairs the Washington County Agricultural Fair, August 15 to 22, with the West Alexander Fair, September 7 to 12.
Beaver County pairs the Hookstown Fair, August 25 to 29, with the Big Knob Grange Fair in Rochester, September 1 to 5. Indiana County pairs the Indiana County Fair, August 28 to September 5, with the Ox Hill Community Fair in Plumville, September 6 to 12, effectively running back to back.
Armstrong and Lawrence carry one each, and they overlap: the Dayton Fair runs August 16 to 22 and the Lawrence County Fair in New Castle runs August 17 to 22.
City festivals in Allegheny County
Allegheny County's two listings are both city street festivals rather than agricultural fairs. Bloomfield Little Italy Days runs August 13 to 16 in Pittsburgh, tagged cultural, food-festival and music, and is listed as free admission with food and live music.
The Pittsburgh Irish Festival runs September 11 to 13 with crafts, food and live music listed. It is the last event of the year anywhere in this region.
The best weekends to plan around
Two windows stand out. August 10 to 15 has the region at full stretch, with the Butler Farm Show, the Greene County Fair, the Dawson Grange fair and Little Italy Days all open at once, plus the Washington County fair opening on the 15th.
Labor Day week is the second. The Indiana County Fair, Big Knob Grange Fair and Hookstown Fair overlap across the holiday weekend, and Ox Hill picks up the day after Indiana closes. After that the region winds down quickly, so mid-September is the last realistic chance until next June.
