Fair officials have announced the exciting lineup of Grandstand acts for the 2012 Berrien County Youth Fair!

Country fans will relate to Arkansas native Justin Moore who will headline on Wednesday, August 15 at 7:00 pm. With hits such as “Small Town USA” and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” Justin is sure to hit home at the Berrien County Youth Fair. Rock fans will also be entertained by the one and only Bret Michaels. As front man of the band Poison, Bret has been in the spotlight more recently as a reality TV star; winning “Celebrity Apprentice” and starring in his own television series “Rock of Love” on VH1. Bret will be performing on Thursday, August 16 at 7:00 pm under the covered grandstand. Also new to the lineup this year is something for the motocross lovers. For the first time ever, the Berrien County Youth Fair will have a supercross race. It’s been requested for years and BCYF has obliged. The “My Auto Michigan State Fair Supercross Series” points race will replace the demolition derby held on Saturday.

A small town Arkansas native, Justin Moore has been singing gospel and country music since the young age of 2. When he was 18 and fresh out of high school Justin moved to Nashville with a manager already on board. Justin eventually signed a writing deal with Big Picture Music and after a few years received a recording offer with The Valory Music Co. In 2008, Justin was fortunate enough to tour with some of country music’s biggest stars (most of whom are BCYF alum), including Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn, and Luke Bryan! In 2009 and 2010, Justin toured alongside Brad Paisley. Justin was nominated for Music Row Magazine’s Breakthrough Artist of 2010. His hometown anthem “Small Town USA” earned a #1 single status in 2009. He followed this up by earning a top 5 hit “Backwoods”. Justin’s live band show is high energy, non-stop, rockin’ country, where his songs tell the truth about a kid from a small town who’s doing all he ever wanted to do – play Country music.

Cultural icon Bret Michaels does more jobs in a single day than most people do in an entire lifetime including: rock star, reality star, spokesperson, businessman, and philanthropist. Michaels first rose to fame as the front man of Poison in the 1980’s. Since then, Poison has achieved massive success selling over 25 million records worldwide! Bret’s solo career has been equally successful; his most recent solo album “Custom Built” topped the charts, reaching #1 on hard rock charts. As a reality TV star, Michael’s “Rock of Love” series on VH1 is one of the most successful in VH1’s history. He went head to head with some of the brightest minds in business on Donald Trump’s NBC hit “Celebrity Apprentice”. He “Trumped” the competition with his Trop-A-Rocka Snapple drink which proved to be so successful, fans rallied to continue its distribution and it is now a permanent offering by Snapple. As a philanthropist Bret Michael’s continues to give. In 2010 Bret partnered with an association close to his heart, the American Diabetes Association. As a lifelong diabetic Bret acts as a spokesperson and sponsor for the disease and continually raises money for diabetes research. He recently partnered with legendary guitar company, Dean Guitars, to design his first ever signature Bret Michaels series. Bret is also actively involved in the world of extreme sports. He recently created the first annual Bret Michaels Rock Hard, Ride Hard Award for supercross – a cash prize for the toughest and most tenacious supercross rider of the season. (Maybe he’ll stick around for our supercross event on Saturday!)

The BCYF is excited to bring supercross to the Fair this year. This race will be a points race in the “My Auto Michigan State Fair Supercross Series”. Fans are likely to see a mix of local riders in the amateur series. This event will be general admission and gates will open for warm-up starting at 5:00 pm.

The rest of the BCYF Grandstand lineup includes the traditional Truck and Tractor Pull to open the Fair on Monday, August 13 and three free Circus Continental shows on kids’ day which is Tuesday, August 14. Friday, August 17 we’ll see the return of the classic Bullmania.

Tickets for grandstand shows will go on sale after the first of the year, exact date to be announced at a later time. Tickets will be on sale at the Fair office, online at www.bcyf.org or by phone at 1-877-772-5425 (applicable convenience fees may apply). The Fair is once again offering a special deal on one-day gate admission tickets through August 1. The gate admission sale price will be $5.00 each with the purchase of a grandstand ticket, which is $1 off of the regular price.

The 67th Berrien County Youth Fair is August 13-18, 2012 with this year’s theme “Where Magic Happens”