For decades, Reithoffer Shows Inc. has driven straight through the night to arrive at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds in time to set up its carnival one day before the fair opens.

Monday morning will be no different.

The company will shut down the midway Sunday at midnight in Brockton, Mass., tear down the rides, and drive almost seven hours in the dark to Watertown.

Then, Tuesday at noon, the midway will open at the 191st Jefferson County Fair.

Gate admission is free Tuesday and rides will be free for the first half hour, until 12:30 p.m.

"With the price of gas, we're hoping people will say, 'Let's go to the fair' instead of other amusement parks," said fair president Robert D. Simpson. "You can get just as thrilling a ride here as anywhere."

New rides on the midway this year will be the Kite Flyer, which simulates hang-gliding and the Avalanche, which is a larger version of the kids' Crazy Bus and Fire Chief.

"We've got a real good mix of rides," Mr. Simpson said.

Crowd favorites Wild Claw and Orbiter — which was on the midway for the first time last year — will be brought back as well.

A new act, the Star Family Circus and Thrill Show, will join the fair this year and put on daily performances at 3:30, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Members of the Garcia family will ride motorcycles inside a globe cage, juggle knives and put on dog-trick shows.

The Firemen and High School Band Parade will help kick off the fair Tuesday at 7 p.m. There will be more high school bands involved this year than in previous years, according to Mr. Simpson.

New to the grandstand is a garden tractor pull, which will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m.

"That may not sound like much of anything, but people take these garden tractors and they really soup them up," Mr. Simpson said.

The fair will also hold an Idol Contest on Friday at 7 p.m. in addition to its traditional karaoke contests, which will be Wednesday and Thursday nights at 9 p.m.

"We try to have a lot of little contests," Mr. Simpson said.

To go along with the baking, cow chip throwing, and ice cream eating contests, the fair will host a Guitar Hero contest Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest will have three divisions — 10 and under, 11 through 16, and 17 and over.

"I said 'Geez, that'd be fun to do at the fair,'" Mr. Simpson said.

Returning grandstand events include the Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. and Showdown III — an amateur boxing night — on Saturday, with doors opening at 5 p.m. and bouts beginning at 6 p.m.

Gate admission Wednesday through Saturday is $5 each day or $4 in advance, and is $4 Sunday; children 5 and under are free. Individual season passes are available for $12.

All-day ride tickets can be purchased Wednesday and Friday for $18.99, or $17.99 with a $1-off coupon that can be printed from the fair Web site. Ride tickets must be purchased individually Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Admission on Thursday is free for senior citizens all day and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for youths. Admission is free Saturday for those with a military ID.

The "Mega Pass," an all-day, fixed-price, one-day admission to the fair with unlimited rides, costs $18 before the fair starts and $22 during the fair.

"The Mega Pass is the best deal," Mr. Simpson said. "It gets you into the fair and gets you unlimited rides."

Mega Passes are available at all Kinney Drugs stores in the county, Price Chopper, Salmon Run Mall, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the fair office.

Parking at Jefferson Community College is free, and parking at the fairgrounds is $3.

For a complete schedule of Jefferson County Fair events, call the fair office at 782-8612 or visit www.jeffcofair.org.