Tillamook County Fair

Join the fun at the Tillamook County Fair, in Tillamook Oregon August 10-13, 2011!

Last year, the Tillamook County Fair was chosen by USA Today as one of the top ten Blue Ribbon Fairs in the nation.

For the past 86 years, Tillamook County Fair has hosted the world famous Pig-N-Ford races. If you have not seen these races, it's worth the trip and price of admission just to experience these races! PIG-N-FORD RACES have been featured on Good Morning America, KATU's "Spirit of the Northwest", National Geographic, the Internet and Comedy Central.

photo by Elaine Cummings

Bring the whole family and experience an old fashioned county fair that adults and children alike will remember for years.

Diane Emineth,
Sandlake Country Inn

Tillamook County Fair Pig and Ford Races

When making your summer plans, consider coming to stay with us during the "World Famous Pig-N-Ford Races" at the Tillamook County Fair. This year the dates of the fair are August 11-14, 2010. This is an Oregon Coast event you shouldn't miss!

If you've never experienced this, come and join us! Each year, we do our best to go to the Tillamook County Fair. Since we are located in the middle of dairy country and farm country, this Tillamook County Fair shows off the best of this community. Hob nob with the cows, pigs, llamas and locals. It's a great time and we try our best to attend each year.

The Pig-N-Ford races have been featured on the Today Show, many news outlets and here's a picture from National Geographic!

Drivers use stripped model T Fords with stock mechanicals. Five cars are lined up with the engines off at the start line of the horse racing track. Drivers stand next to the grandstands. When the starter pistol fires, the drivers run to the opposite side of the front straight, grab a live 20-pound pig from a bin, then must hand-crank their car and drive it one lap. They then stop, kill the engine, get a different pig, and race another lap. The first driver to complete three laps in this manner without losing their pig is the winner. The race was first run in 1925. The "official" story is that two local farmers were chasing a runaway pig in their Model Ts and were having so much fun, they decided it should be a race at the next county fair. The Pig-N-Ford Races have been run every year since 1925. Drivers belong to the Tillamook County Model T Pig-N-Ford Association, and membership is often a life-long affair. Cars and memberships are often passed down through families or sold to close friends. Some of the cars that first ran in 1925 are still on the track today

Now, who would have thought that Pigs could fly on the Oregon Coast?

The World Famous Pig-n-Ford Races

The World Famous Pig-n-Ford Races

Pig n what???? Yup you read it right. It's the World Famous Pig-n-Ford races right here at the Tillamook County Fair. Ron and I really enjoy going to the Tillamook County Fair each year. It's a slice of Americana which is so rare these days.

The highlight of the fair are the preliminary heats as well as the finals of the Pig-n-Ford race. These Model T Fords aren’t buffed and shined, they’re built for speed. And carrying small pigs. Their souped-up jalopies are the stallions in the World Famous Pig-N-Ford Races, the highlight of the annual Tillamook County Fair. Aug. 5 through Aug. 8th, people from all over the state will converge on this pastureland to enjoy horse racing, talent shows, country music stars, 4-H exhibits and carnival rides. For many, it’s all just a warm-up to the Pig-N-Ford, in which competitors grab 20-pound pigs from a pen, crank up their Model T’s, jump in and race around the track, with dust, gears and laughter flying.
This crowd-favorite event has been featured on Good Morning America and KATU’s Spirit of the Northwest, and in publications like National Geographic. But the standing-room-only crowds are just part of the allure.

If the Pig-n-Ford races aren't exciting enough, hang on to your hats, because the final Saturday night has the demolition derby. Ok, so I was only able to sit through half of it! Not my cup of tea, but hey, I just couldn't sit on that hard bench for another minute. Here's a hint.....bring a stadium cushion!!!Come and celebrate the 85th year of this Oregon Coast tradition