Fairgoers beat the heat at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair

Elkhart County, Ind. - Last year on opening day there were downpours at the fairgrounds. This year it's the heatwave.

The hottest day of the year so far and fairgoers are enjoying the festivities.

 “Yeah it’s hot, especially over the grills, it’s really hot,” Wagler, a pork burger griller said.

Wagler has grilled burgers for the fair for the last 5 years. He says this is the hottest year yet.

“This is the worst. It has not been this hot,” he said.

Fans, fans, and more fans are spread throughout the fairgrounds to help fairgoers stay cool. Miranda Muir the Fair General Manager said there are a lot of shaded areas and tents to cool you down.

“We’ve been working with emergency crews in the county and they’ve put up some extra tents for us as well that are cooling tents,” Muir said.

And new this year – a cooling center with seats and air conditioning.

“We encourage everybody to go in there and maybe take a break from the heat,” she said.

Besides drinking lots of water, Muir said to make sure you rest as well.

“We want people to come out and join in the fair but they need to do so at their own pace and listen to their bodies,” she said.

Elaine Fiwek and her family are doing just that.

“I drink a lot of liquids like water, slushies and also ice cream,” Fiwek said,

Wagler, makes sure he takes a break. 

“We have chairs and fans that we can sit down on if we want to,” he said.

And he leaves before it gets too hot. 

“5 and 6 o’clock in the afternoon it gets really bad,” he said.

Muir told me over the course of the fair, which is 9 days, they will have a little over 200,000 people walk through the fairgrounds.