The Park County Fair wouldn’t be the same without a carnival, and Carnival Midway owner Tony Guadagno enjoys making that happen in every city and town they visit. 

“It’s not every day of the year that you get to enjoy the fair,” he said. “People see us coming and setting up, and always come by to check it out. There’s a kind of excitement when the fair rides are rolling.”

Guadagno prides himself on providing family fun entertainment and a clean show. His family has been involved in the mobile amusement industry for over 50 years and he has operated Carnival Midway since 1996.

“I want to make sure that they have the best, cleanest show that we can provide for the counties,” he said. “I was born in the business, and I enjoy it. I enjoy traveling and seeing new places and bringing fun entertainment to people.”

Guadagno said you have to love traveling to be in the business, as they are on the road 10 months out of the year going to places in Arizona, Nevada, California, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Wyoming. They take off just November and December, although they’re still busy making sure rides are in top shape.

“We’re in the warmer states in the winter,“ he said. “We start out in Arizona, and then we go to California, and we work our way up back into Utah.”

Carnival Midway travels with 26 rides, but has 44 total. 

“In our downtime we go through our rides,” he said. “We also cycle them out during the year, so one will go in and be off the road for a while, and then we bring another one out.” 

The popular Pharaoh’s Fury, a giant 60-foot tall swinging ship, is back this year, as well as the 65-foot tall Century Wheel. The Himalayas (circular spinning, rapid changes in direction) and Skyfire (high speed pendulum) will also be back.

“The Vertigo is a good one too, it’s a big 80-foot swing,” Guadagno said. “We’re also bringing the bumper cars. Those are fun for the whole family. We all get to bump into each other, get back at your kids, you know.”

There’s kiddie rides as well, including the carousel, Baja Buggy, Wave Runners and a handful of others. 

Safety at Carnival Midway is a top priority. Prior to opening, each piece of equipment is carefully inspected by a skilled midway manager and a ride superintendent using an inspection checklist.

“In any business you have different operations and different levels of customer service,” he said. “We have managers on site all the time that are out on the midway to handle any problems.”

Carnival Midway also brings the Candy Wagon with a wide variety of food available. Sweet treats include fair staples like cotton candy, caramel apples, funnel cakes, snow cones and lemonade. For those wanting a salty snack, there’s popcorn, corn dogs, pizza, soft pretzels and nachos.

“We provide benches to the midway where they can sit down and enjoy themselves,” Guadagno said. “So people will walk the barns, and they’ll have the food and then they’ll do carnival rides. It all goes together.”

The carnival opens Tuesday, July 21, from 6-11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday it will run from 1-11 p.m. and Friday it will be open from 12:30-11:30 p.m. The final day (Saturday) it will run noon-11:30 p.m.

A pre-sale Unlimited Ride Wristband, which costs $33, must be purchased by Tuesday, July 21 at 6 p.m. Unlimited tickets at the carnival ticket booth for the remainder of the week will be $43. 

“If you’re going to be riding for a while, the unlimited is the way to go,” Guadagno said. 

There’s also a variety of credit packages available, ranging from eight credits for $10 to 78 credits for $80. Credit packages include a $2 fee. Additional credit reloads on the same band are $1 each, with no additional fee. Rides take four to seven credits each.

To get your carnival tickets, click the link at parkcountyeventsandfair.com/park-county-fair/park-county-fair-tickets/. They can also be purchased at the carnival.