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DuPage County Fair continues with Axe Women Loggers, farm animals and competitive eating

The barn animals are racking up blue ribbons, the sunflowers are as cheery as ever and the Oreos are another shade of gold: deep-fried.

The DuPage County Fair is back in action and transporting suburbanites to summertime in farm country.

  A boy scurries past sunflowers at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton Friday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com

Though cowboy boots and hats are traditionally worn at the county fair, you will see lumberjills who sometimes sport flannel. The Axe Women Loggers of Maine — a team of logrolling, chainsaw-wielding, female-empowering athletes — hit the mark with their shows in the grandstand infield.

The Axe Women Loggers of Maine have returned to the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton. Daily Herald file photo

The gates to the fairgrounds in Wheaton open at noon Saturday — and the carnival rides will get spinning then, too. Anyone inspired by Joey Chestnut can take the plunge with a watermelon eating contest. But it’s not all fun and games for one county fair workhorse, Ducky, a Border collie laser-focused on the job of sheep herding.

  Five sheep scamper along a fence line as they are herded by an 8-year old Border collie named Ducky at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton Friday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com

In the beer garden, Michael Lynch, a former contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” and a St. Francis High School alum, is slated to perform, starting around 8 p.m. A drone light show is the grand finale of Saturday night’s entertainment.

The county fair continues Sunday with more live music, educational talks about bees, sheepherding demonstrations and a pedal pull contest on the midway.

  Two chickens take in the scene in the fowl barn at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton on Friday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com

For the full lineup, visit dupagecountyfair.org.

  Girls enjoy the carnival at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton Friday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  Tony Esposito, left, of Chicago, and his daughter Emma, 11, along with fellow 4-H member Gavin Goenier, 12, work on a puzzle in the fowl barn at the DuPage County Fair in Wheaton on Friday. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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