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Reithoffer Shows · 32nd year
The Midway
The loud end of the fairground, and the only part besides the grandstand that isn't covered by your gate ticket. Here is exactly what it costs and when it opens.
Carnival pricing as published by the fair, last checked 23 August 2026 · Official carnival page
Who runs it
Thirty-two years of the same midway
Reithoffer Shows has brought the rides to Frederick for thirty-two consecutive years as of 2026. That continuity is why the layout feels familiar to anyone who grew up in the county: thrill rides at the far end, kiddie rides clustered near the entrance, and fourteen games strung along the row between them.
It also means the equipment and the staffing are a known quantity rather than a different operator each September — which matters more on a midway than it does almost anywhere else at the fair.
The numbers
What the rides cost
Two ways to pay: individual tickets, or a wristband. Which one wins depends entirely on how many rides you actually intend to go on.
| Option | Price | Per ticket | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single ticket | $1.50 | $1.50 | Most rides take several tickets, not one. |
| 11 tickets | $15.00 | $1.36 | The smallest book. |
| 22 tickets | $25.00 | $1.14 | The middle option. |
| 55 tickets | $55.00 | $1.00 | Best per-ticket rate available. |
| All-day wristband | $37.00 | — | Unlimited rides, one day. No gate admission, no parking. |
| Jack Pass | $35.00 | — | All-day wristband plus one gate admission, single day. |
| Carload Special | $60.00 | — | Tuesday 22 September only. Parking, admission and wristbands, up to 8 people. |
The two-dollar trap
The $37 wristband covers rides and nothing else. The $35 Jack Pass costs less and includes your gate admission on top. For a single visitor who intends to ride, there is no situation in which the plain wristband is the better purchase — it is the more expensive product with fewer things in it.
When tickets beat a wristband
At a dollar a ticket in the 55-book, a wristband is worth it only if you are riding hard all day. A family doing four or five rides between them is better off with a book. The wristband is for teenagers with stamina.
Timing
The midway opens later than the fair
This is the single most useful thing to know about the carnival: on weekdays the gates open hours before the rides do.
| Day | Gates | Carnival | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 18 | 4 p.m. | 5 p.m. | One hour |
| Sat 19 – Sun 20 | 9 a.m. | 10 a.m. | One hour |
| Mon 21 – Thu 24 | 9 a.m. | Noon or 2 p.m. | Three to five hours |
| Fri 25 – Sat 26 | 9 a.m. | 10 a.m. | One hour |
Use the gap
That three-to-five-hour weekday window is the best part of the fair and it costs nothing extra. Barns, exhibit halls and food, with no queues and no noise. Arrive at nine, do the agricultural half of the fair, then let the children loose on the midway at noon.
Quieter hours
The sensory-friendly window
Sundays, noon to 2 p.m. Reithoffer turns the lights and the music down across the whole midway for a lower-stimulation two hours. The rides still run — they are simply quieter and darker.
If flashing lights or volume are a problem for someone in your group, this is a purpose-built window rather than a general "come early" suggestion, and it pairs naturally with Family Day on Sunday 20 September.
Before you queue
Height requirements
Every ride posts its own height requirement, and the fair publishes a full chart at the midway entrance. Check it before you join a queue with a small child rather than after twenty minutes of shuffling.
Measure at home if you are close to a threshold. Riders get measured at the gate of the ride, not on the honour system, and the difference between "just tall enough" and "not quite" is the difference between a good afternoon and a bad one.
The games row
Fourteen games
Priced individually at each booth. The named ones are Balloon Bust, Water Race, Fishy Fish, Hi Striker, Long Range Basketball and Duck Pond, with eight more along the row.
Duck Pond is the one where small children reliably win something. Hi Striker is the one where adults reliably do not.
The rest of the grounds
Everything past the midway — the barns, the halls, the track — is already paid for by your gate ticket.