FAMILY FUN FOR EVERYONE

Family, family out for fun, where's the Fair-est place to run?

No, not "Thunder From Down Under." Get serious.

"The majority of people come from right there in the Las Vegas area," says Kevin Willard, manager of the Clark County Fair in Logandale, about 60 miles away geographically, and a few million atmospherically. "I don't know where else you can go spend this amount of money and get as much entertainment value."

Willing to undergo neon withdrawal? Go cold turkey from hot clubs? The annual fair, opening today and spreading a fam-friendly feel through Sunday, is a rustic respite. "A lot of people who wound up in Las Vegas from the Midwest, they tell us they love to come here because it reminds them of what life used to be like, simpler, more laid-back," Willard says. "It's pretty much an old-time thing, what you think of as an old-fashioned county fair."

Call it Un-Vegas. True, much of the fair's wares -- carnival rides, games, concerts and enough food to embarrass any casino buffet -- also are available around town throughout the year, but until Steve Wynn builds a Mayberry-themed resort, this pastoral party in the Moapa Valley really rings the (cow)bell.

Entertainment on three stages -- nicknamed the Plaza, Midway and BBQ -- anchor festivities that range from the rugged (nightly rodeo events) to the cultural (displays of pottery, sculpture, paintings) to the homey arts (exhibits of plants, quilts, homemade clothing and pastries) to a vast collection of critters (birds, sheep, reptiles, small rodents) to a lively lineup of livestock (cows, goats, lambs, horses). For starters, anyway.

"You can go to the livestock barn and there will be 4-H kids there, showing their animals," Willard says. "We get a lot of school groups coming out and we try to do educational things, but there's also a lot of hands-on things to do besides the carnival, like the rock-climbing walls."

Plaza performers include the band Emerson Drive, hypnotist Marc Savard, comic magician Tim Gabrielson and the Honey Bear Dancers. On the Midway, look for Safari Sadie and the Break Shop Dancers, as well as gymnastic and ballet exhibitions, while the BBQ stage unveils Stephen Lord and the Sweeney Family Band.

Among the raft of other diversions, take note of the Swifty Swine Pig Racing.

Swelling the ranks of the rodeo tour are more than 600 contestants competing for more than $250,000 in prize money in categories such as steer wrestling and tie-down roping. Then there's the Mutton Bustin' Championships, a junior rodeo for the youngins' in which, instead of the grown-up challenge of hanging onto the hide of a bucking bronco for eight seconds, they need to hang tight to the back of sheep for a mere six seconds.

"They'll win a silver belt buckle, just like the big cowboys," says Willard, noting that another new attraction for the kids is at once entertaining, educational and potentially life-saving. "The Clark County Fire Department has a new teaching facility for kids, a trailer where they teach kids about fire safety. They fill it with theatrical smoke and show them how to get down and crawl to the window and down the ladder, how to touch a door to determine whether there's fire on the other side, and how to drop and roll."

Between all the activities, don't forget to scour the food booths for some tasty belly-fillers you could never order at Spago.

All in all, a Fair-ly good time.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0256.