Late summer near Lake Wallenpaupack means two county fairs, back to back, both an easy drive from Hawley. They're not the same event wearing a different name — here's what sets them apart.
Wayne County Fair — Honesdale
The bigger of the two by a wide margin: nine days in early-to-mid August, drawing roughly 100,000 visitors a year, and running since 1862 — the single largest annual event in Wayne County. Expect a full midway, grandstand shows including monster trucks, and harness racing on select days at the Wayne County Fairgrounds on Route 191 north of Honesdale.
Greene Dreher Sterling (GDS) Fair — Newfoundland
Smaller and older in spirit if not in founding date — GDS traces its roots to 1917, when it was started by a schoolteacher named Ella Nevin. It runs ten days spanning late August into Labor Day, overlapping the tail end of Wayne County Fair season, at its own fairgrounds in Newfoundland. It leans harder into its community-agricultural-fair identity than Wayne County's bigger midway-and-grandstand model.
Which one to pick
If you want the full county-fair experience — rides, grandstand entertainment, a large midway — go to Wayne County Fair. If you want a smaller, more agricultural, small-town fair atmosphere, GDS Fair is the better fit. Since the two run back-to-back most years, a Lake Wallenpaupack late-August trip can realistically catch both.