CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Centre County Grange Fair has been around for 150 years.

It started as a picnic back in 1874, where over 3,000 residents gathered. Now, it hosts up to 200,000 people each year.

As the years go on, many things from that simple picnic have changed. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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“We’re very family-oriented, very agricultural oriented and people like the consistency,” Darlene Wolf-Confer, the general manager of the Grange Fair, said. “We have families that have tented for a hundred years and their family line has tented for almost the entire time.”

The Grange Fair sits alone as the remaining tenting fair in the United States. This year alone, over 1,000 families set up shop inside their canopies and an additional 1,500 showed up with residential vehicles.

Most families trade in and out with others during the 10 days, while others stick it out the entire time. Each tent has a different story as to why they camp out in the middle of Centre County.

“It means family,” said Carrie Voss, a resident tenter from Lancaster, Penn. “It means tradition. It means coming together and spending time.”

“It’s been super fun just coming and looking forward to hanging out with my cousins because we barely get to see them,” said. Paisley Voss, daughter of Carrie.

“We get to move around and play games,” said Amelia Romeo, a young child who has had her family camp in the fairgrounds for 85 years.

“There’s stuff to buy food and there’s rides,” said Donovan Voss, brother of Paisley and son of Carrie.

Tents act as a huge part of some families. Some people happen to marry into a family who owns a tent at the Grange Fair. Others have had their tent passed down to them from family members who have passed.

“The fair means a lot to us. My dad’s mom’s family started the tent 100 years ago,” Voss said. “And then we just pass it down. It just means so much to come back and see family every year.”

With families passing down tents, it has become a challenge to set a new tent for a family trying to start a new tradition.

“We have a waiting list,” Wolf-Confer said. “It seems like everyone wants to come to the Grange Fair.”

The waitlist has been as long as 30 years to get a tent. Those who have managed to secure a tent join a large community and meet new friends next door.

“Every year, it’s lovely coming back and seeing our neighbors and catching up with those people who are not family, but they’re like family,” Voss said.

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