After 154 years, the Kane County Fair has become about as resilient as the professional bull riders at the event who get back up and dust off their boots for another ride.

Bull rider Austin Chaffin, 20, hails from Los Angeles and was participating in the Professional Championship Bullriders show at the fair Friday.

”Bull riding is like all of the excitement and adrenaline you can pack into a car crash,” Chaffin said. ”My grandpa and father rode bulls. It runs in the blood.”

Brazilian bull riders Junao Kuarizma, Douglas Franco and Paulo Neto also took part in the event Friday.

Kuarizma, 30, began bull riding about 10 years ago. It takes endurance to stay on a bucking bull, he said.

“Getting hurt at times is normal in this sport,” he said.

The bulls usually used in the event are 4 to 5 years old and weigh 1,500 to 2,000 pounds.

Robert Sauber oversees the logistics of the bull riding show at the fair.

“Some of the world’s top bull riders are here,” Sauber said on Friday. ”These riders train hard. They are athletes.”

The bull riding show is just part of the annual fair which opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles, which includes carnival rides, food, music and more.

Kane County Fair Board President Larry Breon describes the county fair as an affordable “family entertainment venue” at a time when the cost of everything else keeps rising.

Close to his heart are the youth livestock, agricultural-related and other exhibits that are spread across the fairgrounds.

”One of the main reasons for the fair is the 4-H program. It’s a vehicle for youth to showcase the projects they have been working on for the past year,” Breon said.

Kane County is blessed to have an outstanding 4-H program through the University of Illinois, he said.

Julian Rodriguez, 17, from Fort Worth, Texas, was feeling a tad queasy from some of the carnival rides but was ready to see the bull riding on Friday. He was with his cousin Elisha Thomas, 13, from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They were both in the area visiting family in Hampshire.

”My stomach aches a little bit from the rides but I’m all good to see the bull riders,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez feels a connection to the bull riders and respects the animals, he said.

”My grandpa was a bull rider so it’s been a thing in our family. He’s an oldster now but still rough to the nails,” he said.

He also enjoys watching the bulls.

“I love the animals. The bulls are magnificent creatures,” Rodriguez said.

Christina Potter of Geneva encouraged her friend Madison Hillner of Marengo to come to the fair Friday and also to watch the bull riding.

”Bull riding is so dangerous but they make it look so easy,” Potter said.

The county fair is a family-friendly event, Geneva mother Karen Steadman said, with son, Liam, 6 in tow.

”It’s a healthy atmosphere for the kids to get away from the video games and television,” she said.

Aurora resident Annabel Rivera, 26, was with her parents and three siblings at the fair Friday. She said she’s been coming to the fair since her youth.

”We like the food vendors and rides but we are especially here for the bull riding. The fair is one of the times we come together as a family,” Rivera said.

The Lind family of Elgin was well represented in the Poultry Barn at the fair. Parents Jake and Lindsey Lind were overseeing the exhibits of their two sons, Connor, 12 and Cooper, 10.

”We brought chickens, turkeys, pigeons and ducks,” Lindsey Lind said.

Connor plays four sports in school in addition to his involvement in 4-H, he said.

”I don’t have time for video games,” Connor said. “I have qualified for the state fair a couple of times but couldn’t make it last year because school started.”

Younger sister Charley, 7, was helping as a clover-bud, a stepping stone into the program. She’ll become a 4-H member next year, her parents said.

”Chickens aren’t really like a puppy. They have feathers. Some chickens are friendly,” she said.

Maple Park mother Jennifer Thompson has raised her four children in the 4-H program.

”This is our 17th fair together as a family,” Thompson said.

The kids build knowledge and develop confidence while learning responsibility by taking care of animals, she said. Besides that, her children can do projects together.

The county fair brings back fond memories of youth and the fair food is like none other, said Eric Zimmerman, 45.

”The atmosphere of the fair brings me back to an innocent time in my life,” the Carpentersville man said.

His parents used to take the family to the county fair and it was always a big deal, he said. He was with his wife and one of his two daughters, Emily, 4, at the fair Friday.

”Times were simple then but the fair food is the same. There’s something about the taste of a county fair corn dog and hamburger that you can’t get anywhere else,” Zimmerman said.

Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.