SOUTH BEND — “You feel a little like Superman on it,” Griffin Long, 13, said as he stepped off the Cliff Hanger ride Saturday at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair.
For the ride, participants lie flat on their stomachs with their arms stretched forward. They are strapped into seats with gliders hanging over them. All the hang gliders are connected to a central beam and move through the air, so the ride is a bit like a carousel, but instead of sitting upright clutching a pole for security, riders can’t grab onto anything for support.
'A great way to kickoff summer':Everything you need to know about the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair
“The ride went surprisingly high … I felt like I was flying,” said Griffin’s sister, Lisa Long, 14, who came from Niles, to attend the fair.
More flying thrills
The Cliff Hanger is one of many rides at the county fair that give children and adults alike a sense of thrill.
There's also Pharoah’s Fury, a boat-shaped ride where passengers are rocked side to side over 43 feet in the air, and Skater, which gives riders the feeling of curving down the ramps of a skate park, except they're suspended in the air instead of rolling on concrete.
Other rides include the Starship, a space-themed ride that spins around, and Scrambler, a carousel that keeps changing the direction in which it spins and a ride where players could drive monster trucks.
Nicole Mungwari, 17, said that she and her younger siblings had come to the fair mainly for the exciting rides because they weren’t big fans of the food at the fair. Mungwari and her family moved to South Bend from Zimbabwe three years ago, and this year was their second one at the county fair.
“I like the 1001 Nachts ride. It goes up and then side to side when you’re high in the air. It was scary, but I just liked the sensation,” her sister, Geraldine Mungwari, 14, said.
Stephanie Nicks from Osceola, who’s attended the county fair almost every year since she was a kid, also said that the 1001 Nachts ride was her favorite. Nicks brought her 10-year-old daughter, Madison Cox, to the fair for the first time last weekend and wanted her to try it out. Cox said she enjoyed getting her face painted and going on rides like the Wave Swinger, but she wasn’t quite ready for the 1001 Nachts ride.
“I’m not scared of heights, but I’m scared of flips,” Madison said.
Toddler-friendly rides
Aurelija Fitzpatrick, who lives in Chicago, attended the county fair for the first time with her kids because she had come to South Bend to visit her parents for the weekend. She said she enjoyed going down the State Fair Slide with her 4-year-old son, Lucas. She took Lucas on the other toddler-friendly rides, such as the Dumbo elephant carousel.
She said she was glad there were many different options for rides.
“We also went on the Ferris wheel and the other roller coasters … I also have a 6-year-old son who’s a bit braver, and he loved it,” Fitzpatrick said.
The St. Joseph County 4-H Fair
■ Where: St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds, 5117 S. Ironwood Road, South Bend
■ When: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily through July 6.
■ Cost: Free from 7 to 9 a.m.; $5 through close; free for ages 8 and younger and police officers, firefighters, EMTs and active military members.
■ For more information: Call 574-291-4870 or visit 4hfair.com.
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