People from all over Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois will flock to Arena Park for the SEMO District Fair beginning Sunday and continuing through Saturday Many will find themselves in the grandstand for some of the fair's most popular attractions -- the horse show, the demolition derby and the truck and tractor pulls.

Horse Show largest in Eastern Missouri

The 8th annual SEMO District Fair Horse Show begins at the grandstand at 1:30 p.m. Sunday after the Pet Parade at 1 p.m. The largest horse show in Eastern Missouri will showcase some of the finest horses and horsemanship in the area, according to Pete Poe, vice president SEMO District Fair Association.

"It grows every year. We feel like we've got something for everybody," Becky Huck, horse show committee member, said.

The horse show will feature stock horses, Tennessee walking horses, racking horses, American saddle horses and fox-trotting horses, according to Huck.

Last year the event had 343 entries. Huck expects at least as many or more than last year.

"We will be proud of our flag presentation that will be done by the SEMO Equestrian 4H Drill Team," Huck said.

Nineteen different classes will be showcased for the crowd.

There is also a stick horse event that will parade children around on stick horses. The children's costumes will be judged in this event.

"I really enjoy the youth classes myself," said Pete Poe, vice president of the SEMO District Fair Association.

"Watching the youngsters perform and exhibit the animals is the best."

The event will begin on time rain or shine, Poe said.

The horse show will feature 19 classes:

Gaited Open Halter

Western Open Halter

(Halter classes will be shown simultaneously)

Leadline for children six and under and Leading a child for adults 16 and over

Ladies Gaited

Walk-Trot or Walk-Favorite Gait

Men's Plantation (No Canter-Flat Walk & Running Walk)

Flat Shod Racking (Show Walk, Slow Rack and Fast Rack)

Open English Pleasure (Walk, Trot and Canter)

Youth Gaited Pleasure

Youth English Pleasure (Walk, Trot and Canter)

Intermission (during the intermission, the Stick Horse Class will be featured)

Youth Western Pleasure

Ladies Plantation (No Canter-Flat Walk and Running Walk)

Ladies Western Pleasure

Men's Country Pleasure

Open Western Pleasure

Ladies Country Pleasure

Men's Gaited

Men's Western Pleasure

Open Trail (No obstacles --judged on suitability for trail riding only)

There will be separate judges for Gaited and Western classes. Trophies and ribbons will be given to first place through the tenth place and first place through fifth place will receive $100 payback for every class except the stick horse class.

The Pet Parade is open to anybody that wants to enter. The Stick Horse event is open to children under 8 years old.

The Demolition Derby enters 28th year

If the sound of cars smashing into each other is your idea of a fun night out, then the SEMO District Fair's Monday night grandstand venue is for you.

The Demolition Derby will feature at least 60 cars determined to smash each other into oblivion until only one car is left running.

There will be cash prizes for the winners.

The deadline for entering the event will be the day of the derby. Interested parties can enter at Fisher Auto Parts in Jackson and Charlie's NAPA Auto Parts in Cape.

There will be various heats of up to 20 cars starting at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The derby could run past midnight, as it did last year.

The derby is organized by Auto Race Promotions out of St. Louis.

"This is our 28th year down there," George Sims, derby promoter said.

"It's always a pretty big show," he added.

Sims said five cars from each heat and three cars from the consolation round will make up the final heat of about 26 cars.

The top five cars in the final heat will win money as will the top three in the consolation round and the top five of each qualifying heat, according to Sims.

Poe said the rivalry between Illinois and Missouri drivers will be the thing to watch at the demolition derby.

Tractor and truck pulls draw big crowds

Only members of Tractor Pullers of Missouri and Illinois Tractor Pullers can compete in Tuesday night's event that begins at 7.

Tuesday night will be the 37th annual Tractor Pull at the SEMO District Fair.

There will be five different classes competing for a total purse of $6,000.

The classes will be 6000-lb. Super Stock, 7500-lb. Super Stock, 7500-lb. Modified (Hot Rod), 9200-lb. Open (Super Stock and Modified) and 10,000-lb. Pro Stock.

On Wednesday night, the Tri-State Truck Pullers Association will present the Truck Pull.

Four classes will be pulling for a piece of the $3,580 total purse.