Alcohol won’t be served on the Stephenson County Fairgrounds when the 2026 Stephenson County Fair kicks off July 21 in Freeport.

The Stephenson County Fair Board recently announced its decision to stop serving alcohol during the fair.

Gary Mielke, fair board president, said the decision to stop serving liquor came down to dollars and cents.

“Over the years, the sales just haven’t been there, for the time that is spent setting up and then cleaning up after,” Mielke said. ”It was more for economic reasons; we just were not really getting a lot of money off of this. Last year, I think we came away with $650. So we said we’re done. We’re not going to go through the work if it’s not giving a return on investment."

Mielke said, although there were never any serious incidents related to serving or the consumption of alcohol at the fair, the board decided to return to the fair’s earlier tradition of being alcohol free.

The theme of the 2026 fair is “Back to Our Roots: A Fair for Families. A Fair for Tradition.”

Mielke said the fair board has been encouraged by the largely positive feedback it has received since making the announcement.

“Fairs should be family-friendly and safe, and we are that anyway, and we want to keep it that way,” he said.

The Whiteside County Fair also does not serve alcohol during the fair. This year’s Whiteside County Fair will take place Aug. 18-22.

“Our fair is alcohol free because we want to provide a family-friendly atmosphere,” said Karl Kovarik, a member of the Whiteside County Fair Board.

Kovarik said a popular belief is that restricting alcohol from the fairgrounds was a condition of the donation of the land for the current Whiteside County Fairgrounds.

“It has been handed down through the generations that some of the property was given to the fair association under the pretense that it would be an alcohol-free fair. As far as we know, that was a gentleman’s agreement,” Kovarik said.

The fairgrounds today are made up of a number of separate land purchases and donations.

“We have no record of which may have included this clause and no one left on the board who would have firsthand knowledge of these exchanges,” Kovarik said.

Kovarik said that while alcohol is not served during the fair, the board allows alcohol on the grounds for the private groups and individuals who rent the buildings and grounds.

“The parties and/or groups that are putting these events on are responsible for obtaining all other insurance coverage and these events are not considered fair events,” he said.

The Lee County 4-H Fair in Amboy is also alcohol-free. The 2026 Lee County 4-H Fair will take place July 23-26.

Like the Whiteside County Fairgrounds, the fair board does allow alcohol on the grounds for private events in the buildings and grounds. The groups that rent the facilities are responsible for insurance and other expenses.