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About Us & Get Involved

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Our Mission

Enumclaw Expo & Events Association and the King County Fair exists to continue the legacy of community, education, entertainment, and opportunity through memorable experiences.
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Our History

Our story starts when the King County Fair was founded in 1863 during Abraham Lincoln's presidency, and our very own Washington state was a simple territory. It began as a simple celebration of agriculture and took place in the Georgetown area, just south of Seattle. As our little fair grew, Washington was admitted into the United States of American in 1889. The King County Fair moved to Renton around 1900, and then to Enumclaw after World War II in 1965. When the fair moved, so did the buildings that currently reside on our fairgrounds. Our three main buildings are from the Seattle World's Fair held in 1962, that were trucked down and reassembled into what are now our Admin Building, RestorX hall, and Les Schwab Hall.

The King County Fairgrounds was voted into Enumclaw City limits in 1969 and King County put Enumclaw on the map with our largest numbers seen in 1991 at 270,316 people over 5 days! Celebrities like Chris LeDoux, Collin Raye, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Chris Cagle, Blaine Larsen, and Martina McBride have performed here over the years.

We proudly maintain the King County Fair as the oldest fair this side of the Mississippi. All of our buildings have Washington's great history behind them. Including our Fieldhouse, formerly known as Pete's Pool, which is listed in the King County Historic Landmarks registry. The stadium seats at our rodeo grounds are from the old Kingdome in Seattle, as well as both ticket booths! Since Enumclaw's rich history is rooted in Logging, our totem pole was carved in 1968 by Charles Shaphawa out of a cedar log shipped by Weyerhaeuser all the way from British Columbia and is featured along Main Street in the fairgrounds.

The Enumclaw Expo Center (formerly the King County Fairgrounds) was transferred from King County to the City of Enumclaw in 2006. Beginning July 1, 2015, a transfer was again made to a newly established Non-Profit Organization, the Enumclaw Expo and Events Association. That's US!

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Our Timeline

1853-1901
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We have so much history to share with you! We have assembled a history timeline for your viewing.

Clicking on our photo gallery, on the right, allows you to scroll through the years.


A couple FUN facts:
  • King County Fair is the OLDEST Fair this side of the Mississippi (Fair est. 1863)
  • Buildings on the grounds came from the Seattle World's Fair....Elvis walked through our buildings!
  • Stadium seats at our Rodeo Arena are from the old Kingdome in Seattle
  • Existing ticket booth at the Football stadium and Rodeo arena are from the Kingdome
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Our Story Today

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The Enumclaw Expo & Events Association is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Washington. We happily maintain our beautiful grounds comprised of 72 acres with a variety of multi-use buildings, grass midways, parking lots and arenas that are versatile enough to accommodate most any event. Our friendly staff, reasonable prices and beautiful location has drawn many events to our venue. Annual attendance at the Expo Center events is over 180,000 with events and activities ranging from weddings to concerts and dog shows to motorcycle rallies.

We continue the legacy of supporting Washington's rich history by serving several nonprofits with access to our ground's year around. Youth sports, such as baseball, cheer, wrestling and dance have taken a liking to the indoor venue space during the cold, wet and windy seasons. We support our youth in their agricultural endeavors, such as open rides for the 4-H horse clubs, weigh-ins and clinics from Junior Livestock, Mustang Yearling Washington Youth Sale and Auction, and many more!

The Fairgrounds are home to several large events including the Enumclaw Wine & Chocolate Festival, King County Fair, Enumclaw Pro-Rodeo, Seattle Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gathering, Olympic Kennel Club Dog Show, a Christmas Experience and many more celebrations that occur year-round!
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