The Richmond County Fair opened on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 and continues from noon to 7 p.m. each day through Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 5. (Courtesy of Historic Richmond Town)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Richmond County Fair, an annual highlight of Labor Day weekend, was booming on opening day with enthusiastic crowds reveling under sunny skies on Saturday.

The 42nd annual event at Historic Richmond Town is a festival of fun on the last unofficial weekend of summer before children return to school.

“It’s our annual fundraiser,” said Jessica Baldwin Phillips, CEO of the living history village located in the heart of Richmond, referring to the fair that smoothly blends vintage trades with modern attractions.

Phillips dubbed the event that runs through Monday as “the people’s gala,” noting that children and adults are able to enjoy many attractions that are free or low-cost after the price of admission.

“We have five bands each day,” Phillips said. “We have our famous food-eating contests.”

Doughnut and chicken wing contests are new for this year.

The fair has an abundance of food and beverage stands and merchandise for sale.

Bounce houses, pony and carnival rides, games and a roving clown who makes balloon animals are among the many child-friendly amenities.

The Richmond County Fair opened on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022 and continues from noon to 7 p.m. each day through Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 5. (Courtesy of Historic Richmond Town)

Annie Wickersty was showing her daughter, Abigail, how to form decorative leaves out of modern tinplate. Leaves, stars and different shapes traditionally were made from sheet iron that was dipped into a vat of molten tin. The metals were hammered and chiseled into various shapes and soldered onto the gutters and downspouts of houses.

Annie Wickersty showed her daughter, Abigail, how to form decorative leaves out of modern tinplate on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

Norm Pederson was making the parts for a ladder-back chair, which was a very common chair in the middle of the 1700s and 1800s.

“It was fairly easy to make and it was very popular until more highfalutin stuff came along in the 1900s,” Pederson said.

A completed chair was made of oak and Pederson was fashioning a second chair from a lathe made entirely of wood, a machine typically used by rural carpenters in past centuries.

“If you were a carpenter, you could make the machine, not buy the machine,” he said.

Norm Pederson was making the parts for a ladder-back chair at the Richmond County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

Norm Pederson was making the parts for a ladder-back chair at the Richmond County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

Maria Formica was fashioning a basket using a mold. Willow wood was soaking so that it would be more flexible and bend instead of break. The baskets will be sold in the gift shop.

Cristina Diaz, a historical interpreter at Historic Richmond Town who was home for the weekend from attending attending college at the University of Pennsylvania, also was crafting baskets.

“I love working here because it’s the kind of experience that you’re not going to get anywhere else,” Diaz said. “I just feel so lucky that I’m able to learn this and be able to share it with the public.”

Maria Formica and Cristina Diaz craft baskets from willow wood at the Richmond County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund) Cristina Diaz, a historical interpreter at Historic Richmond Town who was home for the weekend from attending attending college at the University of Pennsylvania, also was crafting baskets.

Victoria Benevento, 7, was riding a pony under the watchful eye of her mother, Chrissy.

The Benevento family has been to the fair “many times,” the mother said, adding that her favorite activity is shopping, but her daughter favors carnival rides, games and ponies.

The bounce houses were enticing attractions for many young children, including Artur Asadryan, 4.

“I think it’s cool and better than last year,” said his mother, Angela Litvinova of the fair. “It’s more interesting for kids.”

Douglas Ball, 4, played on a slide at the Richmond County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

Douglas Ball, who turned 4 on Saturday, was celebrating his birthday in the bounce houses with family, including his father who shares the same name.

“We love the bounce houses, the community atmosphere, and we make a tradition of coming here once a year,” said his father.

“It’s all about the kids,” said Jason Moskowitz, father of Savannah, 4 , referring to the fair. “We’ll do all the rides.”

The Moskowitz family likely will buy some food and shop.

“We’re going to have a fun day,” Jason Moskowitz said.

Savannh Moskowitz, 4, enjoyed the bounce houses at the Richmond County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

Hours for the fair are noon to 7 p.m. through Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5.

Winners of the contests are as following:

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