Where and when is your state's official State Fair hosted?

[AlexandriaVA]

I didn't even know VA had a state fair and I'm from VA. Arlington has a county fair, which occupies the parking lot of a middle school and has effectively no rural aspects.

[Bruce]

Washington doesn't have an official state fair, but the largest (by far) is the Puyallup Fair, which renamed itself to the "Washington State Fair" a few years ago. 1.1 million people attend every September.

That's interesting. A common misconception down here was that the Puyallup Fair was chosen by some committee to be the official state fair, and thus it was forced to change its name to reflect that (with the "do the Puyallup" motto sticking around as a protest). After reading some articles, I see that is not even remotely true.

FWIW, it is still very often referred to as the "Puyallup Fair" by locals. Not sure what its called up north. I assume "Puyallup Fair" due to the existence of the Evergreen State Fair.

The only sanctioned state fair was held in Yakima from 1893 to 1942 (and was later revived unofficially). Puyallup made the decision to rename itself after some market research. It was previously known as the Western Washington Fair on paper.

[tdindy88]

Indiana's State Fair dates back to the 1850s and has been at the same location in Indianapolis since 1892 back when 38th Street and Fall Creek Parkway was a rural area. Now it is completely surrounded by the city, but it has all the usual fixings for a fair. It's typically ran for three weeks in August, during the start of the school year for many students making the weekends the far more popular days.

[mgk920]

Louisiana:  Shreveport at the LA State Fairgrounds off Greenwood Rd (US 79/80). Runs from end of October to early November.

Are gators allowed in the park?

Must show ID to prove that you do not live in northern Florida.

(Right?    )

Mike

[mgk920]

The Wisconsin State Fair is held at the State Fairgrounds in West Allis, just west of Milwaukee. It's usually held in early August, this year it runs from August 2-12.

Lots of rural interest in the annual Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction, too, where the judged winners of the various categories are sold by the state governor and the proceeds go as scholarships to the winners.  The Grand Champion steer often goes for well over $50K.



Mike

[Rothman]

Both Vermont and Maine have their own state fairs outside of The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E).  Not sure about New Hampshire and I am too lazy to Google it.

[jon daly]

Both Vermont and Maine have their own state fairs outside of The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E).  Not sure about New Hampshire and I am too lazy to Google it.

I mentioned the Vermont one. The only reason I know about it is because my wife and I once stayed in Rutland and I could see the grounds from our hotel.

[MisterSG1]

Not a state fair (or even a provincial fair lol) but the closest thing to such a thing around here is the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) held on the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto. Wikipedia claims it is the fifth largest fair in North America. It's not exactly like a fair as there are no livestock competitions at this fair....we do have an event for that which happens in November called the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and despite the name does not have a midway, but this event has the livestock competitions similar to what you see at a state fair.

To be honest, the only state fair I've been to is New York's.

The CNE usually starts in the middle of August and always ends on Labour Day.

[inkyatari]

Not a state fair (or even a provincial fair lol) but the closest thing to such a thing around here is the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) held on the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Johnny at the fair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn00ynJaOrk

[Flint1979]

Michigan: Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. End of August/beginning of September.

Historically the State Fair for Michigan was held at the State Fairgrounds at 8 Mile and Woodward in Detroit until 2009 and wasn't held in 2010 or 2011.

[cjk374]

Louisiana:  Shreveport at the LA State Fairgrounds off Greenwood Rd (US 79/80). Runs from end of October to early November.

Are gators allowed in the park?

Must show ID to prove that you do not live in northern Florida.

(Right?    )

Mike

There is a museum open year-round on the fairgrounds. I thought at one time there was a gator display in it (stuffed/reproduced, not live), but I can't find it on the site:  http://laexhibitmuseum.org

You gotta go to Bass Pro Shops at the Boardwalk in Bossier and look in their "moat" to see gators.

Or go to Natchitoches, LA: https://www.google.com/search?q=alligator+farm+in+natchitoches+louisiana&oq=gator+farm+in+Natchi&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l2.12000j0j8&client=tablet-android-att-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

[Scott5114]

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma is held in Oklahoma City, at the State Fairgrounds at the I-40/I-44 interchange. It is traditionally held whichever week in September it is going to rain. I don't know how big a deal it is–nobody that I know actively expresses a desire to go to it–but we see a noticeable trough in business at work when it is going on. But maybe that's also because of the rain. I personally haven't been since 1997, when I got extremely ill from the food there.

The folks in Tulsa have decided the Great State Fair of Oklahoma is not good enough and have their own Tulsa State Fair, which presumably is to show off the attractions and achievements of the State of Tulsa, which logically must exist if it's throwing a State Fair.

[RobbieL2415]

CT doesn't have a state fair, unless you consider The Big E in West Springfield. MA (9/14-9/30 this year) the official state fair for all New England states.  The biggest fairs are the Goshen and Woodstock Fairs on Labor Day Weekend, and the Durham Fair the last weekend in September.

All states plus NY State in some cases.  Livestock and equestrian, for instance.

[US 89]

Utah's state fair is held at the Utah State Fairpark (well, obviously), which is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The fair is an 11-day event, beginning the Thursday after Labor Day.

[DandyDan]

Iowa has it's State Fair in Des Moines. This year it is August 9-19. It is regarded as a very big deal. When I lived in the Omaha area, they would put up a billboard or 10 in Omaha, something the Nebraska State Fair wouldn't do.

As for Nebraska, it's in Grand Island after years of being in Lincoln.

Missouri has theirs in Sedalia, which is apparently the only reason to ever go there.

[US71]

Arkansas State Fair is in Little Rock, usually mid-October.

[cjk374]

Iowa has it's State Fair in Des Moines. This year it is August 9-19. It is regarded as a very big deal. When I lived in the Omaha area, they would put up a billboard or 10 in Omaha, something the Nebraska State Fair wouldn't do.

As for Nebraska, it's in Grand Island after years of being in Lincoln.

Missouri has theirs in Sedalia, which is apparently the only reason to ever go there.

I heard Sedalia has a Griff's burger joint. That makes 2 reasons. 

[jon daly]

CT doesn't have a state fair, unless you consider The Big E in West Springfield. MA (9/14-9/30 this year) the official state fair for all New England states.  The biggest fairs are the Goshen and Woodstock Fairs on Labor Day Weekend, and the Durham Fair the last weekend in September.

All states plus NY State in some cases.  Livestock and equestrian, for instance.

I did not know that re N.Y.. I was going by which states have state houses on the grounds.

[oscar]

Alaska's state fair (this year late August through Labor Day) is at a permanent site in Palmer, northeast of Anchorage. The state fairgrounds are served by a spur of the Alaska Railroad, which provides weekend passenger train service between Anchorage and the fair when the fair is open.

[Buck87]

The Ohio Expo Center in Columbus has been the location of our state fair dating back to 1886 (prior to that the fair was held at many different locations around the state)

This year's fair begins on Wednesday (it runs from July 25th to August 5th)....and last year's fair made national news when a ride malfunction lead to one death and several injuries.

[SP Cook]

West Virginia's is in Lewisburg, which to me is a very odd site, because it's not centrally located at all.

It is there pretty much because nobody else wanted it.  Locals around there just developed their local fair into the "state fair" and everybody went along with it.  It is OK.  Because of the state's unfortunate history, it is about the only thing named for the state located in the southern two-thirds of it.  Also it is probably as near to "farm country" as the state has.

RG content #1:  Remember I-64 from Beckley to just outside Lewisburg was completed all at once.  In one day Lewisburg went from really really really remote to fairly (no pun intended) easy to get to.  Prior to that the event was very local in nature.  Changed since then.

RG content #2:  The fairgrounds is all the way at the south edge of Lewisburg, and there really is just the one street through town.  The hospital is across the street, and there is massive backup.  I would hate to need to get through in an emergency.

[Rothman]

Huh.  Lewisburg feels totally different than, say, Charleston or Morgantown, too.  My mother refers to it as the Virginia part of West Virginia (she was born in Ronceverte and lived in Lewisburg for a while).

Still strange it ended up there.  Just doesn't seem like a state fair kind of town.

Then again, Northampton, MA has the down and dirty 3 County Fair, despite being yuppieland.

[jon daly]

Huh.  Lewisburg feels totally different than, say, Charleston or Morgantown, too.  My mother refers to it as the Virginia part of West Virginia (she was born in Ronceverte and lived in Lewisburg for a while).

Still strange it ended up there.  Just doesn't seem like a state fair kind of town.

Then again, Northampton, MA has the down and dirty 3 County Fair, despite being yuppieland.

They used to have bottom of the barrel thoroughbred racing. I went there one year when trucker chic was big. All the kids were wearing foam domes, big buckles, and had wallet chains. Then again, given that crowd, they may've done that regardless of whether or not it was in fashion.

[hbelkins]

West Virginia's is in Lewisburg, which to me is a very odd site, because it's not centrally located at all.

It is there pretty much because nobody else wanted it.  Locals around there just developed their local fair into the "state fair" and everybody went along with it.  It is OK.  Because of the state's unfortunate history, it is about the only thing named for the state located in the southern two-thirds of it.  Also it is probably as near to "farm country" as the state has.

I was really surprised when I took WV 3 east out of Beckley and Hinton several years ago. I was familiar with I-64 going from Beckley to Lexington, through Lewisburg, and looking at a map, I expected the end of WV 3 at WV 311 to be a really mountainous area. The terrain there was very surprising to me. And then WV signed a scenic byway called the Farm Heritage Trail in that area.

RG content #1:  Remember I-64 from Beckley to just outside Lewisburg was completed all at once.  In one day Lewisburg went from really really really remote to fairly (no pun intended) easy to get to.  Prior to that the event was very local in nature.  Changed since then.

I have only faint memories of the trip, but once upon a return from a vacation out east (probably the Outer Banks, as we made a few summer trips there and always went one way and came back another) we ran out of I-64 somewhere along the line, probably at Sam Black Church if not farther east. My dad said it took four hours to get from White Sulphur Springs to Charleston. It certainly didn't take me that long when I drove US 60 a few years ago for clinching purposes. I don't know if traffic was heavier on 60 because 64 wasn't done yet or what.

[Beltway]

RG content #1:  Remember I-64 from Beckley to just outside Lewisburg was completed all at once.  In one day Lewisburg went from really really really remote to fairly (no pun intended) easy to get to.  Prior to that the event was very local in nature.  Changed since then.

I have only faint memories of the trip, but once upon a return from a vacation out east (probably the Outer Banks, as we made a few summer trips there and always went one way and came back another) we ran out of I-64 somewhere along the line, probably at Sam Black Church if not farther east. My dad said it took four hours to get from White Sulphur Springs to Charleston. It certainly didn't take me that long when I drove US 60 a few years ago for clinching purposes. I don't know if traffic was heavier on 60 because 64 wasn't done yet or what.

I first drove the I-64 corridor between Lexington and Beckley in 1986, and the section west of Sam Black Church was not complete, so I had to take US-60 to Charleston, very slow.  Was able to check out the US-19 New River Gorge Bridge and that whole segment of Corridor L on a side trip.  Turnpike widening still not quite complete.

I-64 really opened up and connected that part of Virginia as well.  The segment over North Mountain was completed in 1979, providing a completed I-64 between I-81 and Sam Black Church.