The Shelby County Fair returns to Columbiana this year after a one-year hiatus.

With hurricane Katrina devastating the Gulf coast only days before last year&8217;s fair, Shelby County officials decided to move the fair to Veteran&8217;s Park to make room for hurricane evacuees at the John E. Jones Exhibition Center.

The move to Alabaster kept fair officials from holding their yearly judging competitions and only operating the regular carnival rides.

This year&8217;s fair goes from Sept. 18-23.

Fair official John Jones said demand for local merchant and educational booths at this year&8217;s fair is greater than usual and that he expects a large turnout at the judging competitions.

&8220;I&8217;ve never gotten this many calls about the fair so early,&8221; Jones said. &8220;We&8217;ve already reserved 50 booths and we only have 65-70 available. That&8217;s a whole lot more than usual.&8221;

Jones said while competitors cannot register for the judging competition until the fair begins, it&8217;s a good idea for them to have their entry forms already filled out when they arrive.

&8220;I&8217;ve also gotten a lot of calls about entry forms,&8221; he said. &8220;We&8217;re going to have a lot of entries this year for sure.&8221;

Entry forms are available at the following locations:

Admission for the fair is $8, which covers parking, entry and rides. Fair gates open at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information regarding this year&8217;s fair, call 669-7806