One day at The Great New-York State Fair

Adityi Jain
Sep 5, 2018 · 4 min read

One of the largest US fairs…

There were many continuous announcements and news going on about state fair since a long time. Starting from the dates, to the various performances and other events, the fair was creating a huge buzz in Syracuse. I thought let’s go this time (as I missed it last year).

History of The Great New York State Fair

In 1832, the group of farmers, legislators and others started New York State Agricultural Society in Albany to promote agricultural improvement and local fair. Later it’s name changed to New York State Fair in 1967, and covers exhibits about agriculture, entertainment, education and technology.. The fair runs for 13 days, in Fairgrounds Syracuse, ending at Labor’s day. For year 2018, it started on 22nd Aug and ended on 3rd Sept. With midway rides, concessionaires, exhibits and concerts, it has become New York’s largest annual event and an end-of-summer tradition for hundreds of thousands of families from all corners of the state. Almost 1.2 millions people attended fair in 2018.

Attractions

Chevy Court: It is an open air concert theater, which attracted more then a quarter million people in 2018. In 2015, it was named as “Best Free Concert Series in America”. The Fair was also the recipient of the People’s Choice Syracuse Area Music Award in 2016 for Best Festival.

Source

Midway: It has several rides, fun houses, games, and concession stands. There is a kiddie midway too for kids and young people. One pass is needed and then it works for all rides. For me this was the heart of fair, and I spent almost 80% of my time here only.

Rides and attractions on Midway (All pics are by Author).

Agriculture: Agriculture is a large component of New York State, and a big part of the fair as well. The fairgrounds host a variety of displays, events, competitions, and attractions that teach fairgoers the importance of agriculture. This year it had special tree representing 4 seasons of New York.

Tree with 4 seasons, dried grasses and the unique Pumpkin art

Sand sculpture: The center of Progress building is home to massive 120 tonnes sand sculpture which is kept through out the fair.

Sand sculpture

Butter Sculpture: At the center of dairy products building, there is a rotating butter sculpture, made of unsalted butter and weights 800 pounds.

Butter sculpture in a glass box

Apart from this, there were many other attractions like Coliseum, Horticulture and dairy products building. Dairy building had a varieties of Ice cream and yummy chocolate milk. There were many outlets with many types of food items, wines, beer and other. There were many shopping places with clothes, jewelry and fashion accessories.

Shop with antique jewelry

Fireworks was scheduled at the end of fair on Labor day, but since I had a bus, so came back early 😢. It ended for me with this beautiful evening with a glimpse of rainbow.

Over all, I had a wonderful day with many fun rides, live music, lots of food and other attraction. Hope you enjoyed tooo.

Tips

  • The fair is in open grounds, so wear ample of sunscreen and wear comfortable clothing.
  • Try going on Labor day, as all rides including entry to fair is just for 1 dollar each(big savings).
  • Since it takes place during Aug end and Sept, check weather before leaving, it might rain any time so its better to carry umbrella or raincoat.
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