SquirrellyMama Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Does your state have a popular state fair? A couple of years ago I was talking to my cousin who lives by St. Louis. She was talking about going to the IL State Fair one year. She was shocked by all of the food on a stick, the farm animals, the number of people, and everything about the fair. It sounds very similar to the IA State Fair. We don't go every year, but it is fun when we do go. What is your state fair like? I've heard that the TX State Fair is a month long? Kelly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 (edited) I don’t think NJ has a state fair. The big thing around here is county 4H fairs and lots of counties have them. eta - Usually they are a few days or something like Thursday-Saturday or Sunday. Lots of food trucks, carnival rides, animals, contests, live entertainment. Edited August 20, 2021 by kristin0713 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 4 minutes ago, kristin0713 said: I don’t think NJ has a state fair. The big thing around here is county 4H fairs and lots of counties have them. eta - Usually they are a few days or something like Thursday-Saturday or Sunday. Lots of food trucks, carnival rides, animals, contests, live entertainment. We have county fairs leading up to the state fair. I think ours are Thursday-Saturday also. State Fair is 11 days. Interesting, I wonder how many don't have state fairs? I imagine I could Google it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 MN state fair is huge. Competes with Texas for size I think though it is 12 days. We love it, live in close range ( the fair grounds are in the city). and we usually go multiple times but not this year. Nervous it will end up being a huge super spreader event this year. It was canceled last year. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s such a quirky slice of Americana. Excellent people watching. It starts next weekend. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 11 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said: MN state fair is huge. Competes with Texas for size I think though it is 12 days. We love it, live in close range ( the fair grounds are in the city). and we usually go multiple times but not this year. Nervous it will end up being a huge super spreader event this year. It was canceled last year. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s such a quirky slice of Americana. Excellent people watching. It starts next weekend. People watching is great at the state fair! There is always a "People of the Fair" section in the paper. Definitely, competes with "People of Walmart for those 11 days 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Our state fair is fun. Well, in non-Covid years…. My favorites are the hobby displays and 4H displays. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danae Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 19 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said: MN state fair is huge. Competes with Texas for size I think though it is 12 days. We love it, live in close range ( the fair grounds are in the city). and we usually go multiple times but not this year. Nervous it will end up being a huge super spreader event this year. It was canceled last year. I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s such a quirky slice of Americana. Excellent people watching. It starts next weekend. The first time I saw my younger son really upset about the pandemic was when he realized we wouldn’t be going to the fair last summer. And we’re not going again this year. In June I thought we probably would be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 NC has a great state fair! Our family loves it -- we've gone every year except last year (cancelled). I think it makes for great childhood memories! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinball Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 36 minutes ago, kristin0713 said: I don’t think NJ has a state fair. The big thing around here is county 4H fairs and lots of counties have them. eta - Usually they are a few days or something like Thursday-Saturday or Sunday. Lots of food trucks, carnival rides, animals, contests, live entertainment. It was last week. Ended the 14th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 I don't know if we have a state fair, but the little town next to where I live has a big City Fair every July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 I was born and raised in Texas and no other state fair compares. It’s seriously one of the only reasons I ever travel back there. I think it’s the only thing about Texas I still like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 2 hours ago, Danae said: The first time I saw my younger son really upset about the pandemic was when he realized we wouldn’t be going to the fair last summer. And we’re not going again this year. In June I thought we probably would be. We definitely would have gone in June conditions too! Stinks, it is something we really look forward to! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 I just checked to see if the fair is still happening next month. It is. Masks are required indoors (but that's a statewide mandate that they are just following). I still wouldn't feel comfortable with the crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 We have what’s called the royal show which sounds similar. It’s been cancelled the last two years though for obvious reasons. There is also small local version which a lot of people go to due to being easier and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 (edited) is it like an Agricultural show? we go to the local agricultural show, we enter home produce and baked goods. at least the kids do. winners of different categories then enter to the regional finals. Winners there go to the state level. Edited August 20, 2021 by Melissa in Australia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eos Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 We have lots of smaller fairs in different towns, though some are pretty big. We go every year, it's a real end-of-summer ritual. We're planning not to go this year for covid, but the (adult) kids want to make our own in the yard. There will be stuffed animal prizes and blooming onions! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 I think of Common Ground as our state fair https://www.mofga.org/the-fair/. Even though it’s agricultural/back to the land based, it has a vastly different vibe than the standard large state fairs, which in my experience don’t vary much other than size. Common Ground is weird and quirky, crafty and delicious, old school and progressive, welcoming and down home, and above all else uniquely Maine. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 8 hours ago, kristin0713 said: I don’t think NJ has a state fair. The big thing around here is county 4H fairs and lots of counties have them. eta - Usually they are a few days or something like Thursday-Saturday or Sunday. Lots of food trucks, carnival rides, animals, contests, live entertainment. 8 hours ago, pinball said: It was last week. Ended the 14th Isn’t it the Sussex County fair that turned into the state fair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 51 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said: Isn’t it the Sussex County fair that turned into the state fair? Interesting!! Sussex county is far from me, so I guess that’s why I never knew about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 10 hours ago, kristin0713 said: I don’t think NJ has a state fair. The big thing around here is county 4H fairs and lots of counties have them. eta - Usually they are a few days or something like Thursday-Saturday or Sunday. Lots of food trucks, carnival rides, animals, contests, live entertainment. 2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said: Isn’t it the Sussex County fair that turned into the state fair? Yes, the Sussex County Fair is the NJ State Fair and the New Jersey Farm and Horse Show. It sounds a lot like what people are talking about here with State Fairs - lots of animals, agricultural displays, food on a stick, some carnival games. It lasts about a week and a half and is way up in the boonies in farm country. My daughter was in the talent show one year when she was little. There's also the State Fair at the Meadowlands. I think that's more of a carnival type thing. Mostly rides, a few shows. They do have things like racing pigs and a petting zoo, but I don't think of it as being animal/agricultural based. I live about halfway between the two fairs and vastly prefer the Sussex County Fair. Both ran this year, but we didn't go to either. Looking at the websites, it looks like neither had any kind of Covid precautions but we don't have any kind of mandates outside of schools and medical offices right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 3 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said: is it like an Agricultural show? we go to the local agricultural show, we enter home produce and baked goods. at least the kids do. winners of different categories then enter to the regional finals. Winners there go to the state level. There is definitely a huge agricultural component. There is also so much more. Several concerts every night, I know Blake Shelton was on of them. A huge carnival, displays and projects on every subject. It is fun, but so crowded and hot that we don't go every year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 9 hours ago, Joker2 said: I was born and raised in Texas and no other state fair compares. It’s seriously one of the only reasons I ever travel back there. I think it’s the only thing about Texas I still like. I'd love to see the TX State Fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 10 minutes ago, Wheres Toto said: Yes, the Sussex County Fair is the NJ State Fair and the New Jersey Farm and Horse Show. It sounds a lot like what people are talking about here with State Fairs - lots of animals, agricultural displays, food on a stick, some carnival games. It lasts about a week and a half and is way up in the boonies in farm country. My daughter was in the talent show one year when she was little. There's also the State Fair at the Meadowlands. I think that's more of a carnival type thing. Mostly rides, a few shows. They do have things like racing pigs and a petting zoo, but I don't think of it as being animal/agricultural based. I live about halfway between the two fairs and vastly prefer the Sussex County Fair. Both ran this year, but we didn't go to either. Looking at the websites, it looks like neither had any kind of Covid precautions but we don't have any kind of mandates outside of schools and medical offices right now. Yeah, I grew up in Sussex County and went every year, but I haven’t been in well over a decade now. I thought I had seen the “rebrand”, but wasn’t sure. Definitely the highlight of my year when my parents started letting me go with friends. 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Nothing like spending $10 to win a 25 cent goldfish, and being happy about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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