Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

CASSOPOLIS — A smash hit event is returning to Cass County later this month to appease area residents’ tastebuds.

The Cass County Fair will host a Fair Food Drive-Thru event from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 25. The event will take place at the Cass County Fairgrounds, 590 N. O Keefe St., Cassopolis.

At the event, residents will be able to drive through the fairgrounds and receive their favorite fair foods curbside. Participating vendors include Pretzel Wagon, May’s Caramel Corn, Italian and Polish sausage, El Amigo Pepe, The Oriental Chinese, and other fan-favorite fair foods.

“Most of our vendors had a really rough time in 2020, and many of the spring events are being postponed, so this gives them another opportunity to come out and be in the community,” said Cass County Fair Board President Brian Kuemin. “It also gives people a chance to drive through and have some of our really great fair food.”

According to Kuemin, participants will be asked to stay in their cars out of an abundance of caution amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the summer, the Cass County Fair hosted its first Fair Food Drive-Thru event. At the time, event organizers called the event a “huge success” that drew more than 1,800 cars over three days.

“This was really well received last year, and the community really came out to support our vendors,” Kuemin said. “Our first one was hugely successful. People still want community events, and with the pandemic, people want to get out and do things. This was an opportunity for families to come out, and hey, who doesn’t want fair food?”

In addition to providing an outing for local families and a place to sell for local vendors, Kuemin said the drive-thru events played an important role in fundraising for the fairgrounds last year. The organization’s biggest generator of revenue, the fair, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Those events certainly helped our vendors but helped the fair too, and every little bit helps,’ he said. “We still had lots of expenses with very limited income last year.”

Though the 2020 fair was canceled due to COVID-19, Cass County Fair Board members are moving full steam ahead in planning the 2021 fair, scheduled for Aug. 1-7. Until then, Kuemin said he hopes the Fair Food Drive-Thru can be a taste of what is to come.

“I think people should come out and get their favorite fair food,” he said. “Hopefully it is just an appetizer for our fair.”