PITTSTON TWP. — Where can you find a petting zoo, a midway teeming with food options, and a hypnotist who used to work for Disney?
The answer: the Northeast Fair, which opened Tuesday.
Hundreds of people walked the roughly 18-acre fair in the Grimes Industrial Park on opening night.
Heather Rowley and friend Shannon Hillard, both 12 and from Old Forge, were enjoying their Moose Juice Slush as they explored the grounds.
“It’s good fun,” Rowley said. “Tradition. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid.”
“It’s my summer kick-off,” Hillard added.
Both girls were looking forward to riding the rides, including the Century Wheel and the Western Mouse Coaster.
“I’m going to ride all night,” said Hillard.
The girls came with Hillard’s mom, Melissa.
“It’s such a good value, and at least they’re having fun,” Melissa said about the price of entrance — $10. Organizer Joe Pupa said the admission price gets families the rides, exhibits and shows.
“We hope to have at least 25,000 (people),” Pupa said, saying that is usually the average. “If the weather is good, we get over 30.”
The fair will host “Buffo, the World’s Strongest Clown,” a balloon-stunt show with world record-holder James Johnson and much more throughout its run, which ends Sunday.
In the horticulture tent, Liza Murkowski and her son, Ryan, 8, were looking over the winners of the hay-baling contest.
“Not something you see every day, a hay-baling contest,” said Murkowski, of Pittston.
Growing up on a farm in Sweet Valley, Murkowski remembers the baling she had to do. “It smells like home.”
Murkowski might have felt the same way about the petting zoo if she stopped by, brought to the fair by Eudora Farms based out of the small town of Salley, South Carolina.
The zoo has some traditional farm animals — goats, cows and llamas — but visitors might be surprised to see a giraffe, lemurs, and a kangaroo.
The farm, which has been part of the fair for three years, also brought ponies and camels for riding, and a “Parakeet Adventure” attraction where visitors can walk among the birds and feed them.
“We personally hand-raise the animals,” said Gregory Steadman, a caretaker.
“Their comfort is our number one priority,” he added, saying the ponies and camels get a lot of breaks in between rides. “They get treated better than we do,” he laughed.
Patrons can purchase a cup of food to feed the animals in the petting zoo.
One new food vendor — for the human visitors — offers New York-style cheesecake and is owned by Dan McDonough, of Mountain Top. His truck also boasts peanut butter cheesecake, chocolate-covered cheesecake and more. McDonough was excited to bring it to the fair for its debut.
McDonough also owns a lemonade stand near the entrance. He has been vending at the fair for about 10 years.
“I’m hoping for very hot and humid weather,” he said from his drink stand, which is shaped like a giant orange.
