A year ago, members of the Montgomery County Junior Fairboard came up with the idea of having a fundraiser in which participants can play glow-in-the-dark bingo and snack on Mexican food while doing it.

The Blacklight Bingo and Taco Bar was held in April 2023 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds Merchants Building and was a successful event, drawing $10,000.

“We were shocked last year when we sold out the first-time event,” said Chasity Lichtenberg, secretary to the Fair Board. “The community support is what makes this all possible.”

This year, the Blacklight Bingo and Taco Bar is back. The event will be held a couple of months early as it is scheduled for Feb. 9-10 at the Fairgrounds.

“The Junior Fairboard will be hosting a two-night Blacklight Bingo event this year after it had huge success last year,” Lichtenberg said. “We had a lot of people unable to get tickets last year, so we wanted to expand the event.”

The Blacklight Bingo and Taco Bar has already been sold out. It sold all of its tickets online in less than an hour on Jan. 1. Ticket prices were $25 per individual and $180 for a table of eight. There are only 76 tables in the event.

“We put tickets on sale at 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day and they were sold out by 10:45 a.m.,” Lichtenberg said. “That was over 600 tickets sold in just under 45 minutes.”

Participants who bought their tickets need to bring them at the event to get in. The tickets include 10 rounds of bingo and attendance prizes, plus a taco and dessert bar. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and bingo will start at 6:30 p.m. each night.

“We rented several large blacklights and decorated them with neon colors that glow,” Lichtenberg said. “Everyone can dress up if they choose to go with the theme.”

The Blacklight Bingo and Taco Bar is sponsored by the Junior Fairboard, which is made up of high school and college-aged students and was first formed in 2022. Lichtenberg said members have been preparing for the event since December.

“They have been hard at work planning, getting donations, securing and making silent auction items and getting set up for the event,” she said. “They will also bake all the desserts for the two-day event.”

Lichtenberg said the Junior Fairboard came up with the idea of having the Blacklight Bingo and Taco Bar to add more entertainment to the Montgomery County Fair, which is scheduled every July.

“With the money they raised they were able to do goody bags for kids on Friday night, bring in princesses and superheroes, start a showmanship clinic with numerous prizes, paid for the all-week event for the younger kids and more,” Lichtenberg said. “They hope that with the two-night event they can bring in even more and continue to make the fair an enjoyable place for all.”