SALISBURY — On Friday, the annual Rowan County Fair kicks off a week of rides, food, exhibits, entertainment and livestock shows.

The fair opens at 4 p.m. Friday with a schedule chock-full of activities. Entertainment includes a lawnmower pull, demolition derby, motorcycle racing, fireworks, petting zoo and the usual assortment of food, rides and exhibits.

General admission is $5. Children shorter than 3 feet tall get in free.

Parking is $2, all of which will go toward nonprofit groups scheduled to manage the parking lot. Fair manager Johnny Love said signs will be posted each night to indicate which group will receive parking proceeds.

On weekdays, the fair opens at 4 p.m. It will close no later than 11 p.m., Love said.

On weekends, it will open at 1 p.m. and the closing time will depend on how many people are at the fair. If a large number of people remain at 11 p.m., Love said, the fair could remain open.

Meanwhile, rides are scheduled to start one hour after the fair opens on weekdays. Rides will open at the same time as the fair on weekends.

The last day is Sept. 23, when the fair is scheduled to close at 11:30 p.m.

Weather remains the only thing out of the control of fair organizers, but Love said the forecast looks “awesome” for this year’s event.

One addition this year is ATV and motorcycle racing. It will be 7 p.m. Sept. 23.

Another change is that a dog show held for several years will become a pet show featuring many kinds of animals. Examples include dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, reptiles and other animals. The pet expo won’t include cows, sheep, pigs, goats or farm poultry. Registration for the pet show begins at 1 p.m. Sunday. The show starts at 1:30 p.m.

Other activities include a lawnmower pull at 7 p.m. Friday, a demolition derby at 7 p.m. Saturday and fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 23.

A circus will perform twice daily during the week and three times on weekends.

Lazy Five Ranch will provide animals for a petting zoo.

Love said there are more than 2,000 entries for the fair’s various exhibits. There are 25 different rides.

Special days are as follows:

• Monday is Car Load Night, which allows as many as seven people to be admitted for $40. The price includes an armband.

• Sunday is Service Appreciation Night, which allows members of the military, firefighters and EMS workers to get in free by providing identification.

• School nights are Tuesday and Sept. 20. Students who present a special ticket handed out at school will be admitted for $1. Or students can donate two cans of food and show the special ticket.

• Kindergarten Day is 9 a.m. to noon Friday.

• Pre-K school day is 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 20.

• Special needs day is 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 21.

The fair will have its usual slate of livestock shows throughout the week. Shows will feature dairy goats, meat goats, sheep, dairy cattle and broilers.

Show times for livestock are as follows:

• The dairy cattle showmanship category will be judged at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 22, and the dairy cattle show category will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 23.

The showmanship category focuses on how well contestants present their animals. The show category focuses on the animal’s qualities.

• The dairy goat showmanship category will be judged at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and the show category will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.

• The dairy goat dress-up contest is at 6 p.m. Friday.

• Junior breeding ewes will be judged at 6 p.m. Monday.

• Junior market lambs will be judged at 6 p.m. Sept. 20.

• The lamb dress-up contest is at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

• Junior meat goats will be judged at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday.

• Junior commercial does will be judged immediately following the meat goat show.

• Broilers, a type of chicken, will be judge at 4 p.m. Sunday.

For more information about the 2017 Rowan County Fair, visit rowancountyfair.net or call 704-633-5632.

Contact associate editor Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.