State fair

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For other uses, see State Fair (disambiguation).

A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs.

State fairs began in the nineteenth century for the purpose of promoting state agriculture, through competitive exhibitions of livestock and display of farm products. As the U.S. evolved from a predominantly agrarian to an industrial society in the twentieth century, and the more service economy of the 21st century, modern state fairs have expanded to include carnival amusement rides and games, display of industrial products, automobile racing, and entertainment such as musical concerts. Large fairs can admit more than a million visitors over the course of a week or two. The first U.S. state fair was that of New York, held in 1841 in Syracuse, and has been held annually to the present year.[1] The second state fair was in Detroit, Michigan, which ran from 1849[2] to 2009.[3][4]

Events similar to state fairs are also held annually in each state capital in Australia, known as royal shows. Australian royal shows are organized by state agricultural and horticultural societies, and are described further in the agricultural show article.

List of state fairs[]

United States[]

The 2009 Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, Alaska
State or Region Fair Name Location Attendance (year) Attendance as % of State Pop.
!a !a !a -9999
!a !a !a 10000000000
Alabama Alabama State Fair Birmingham
Alabama Alabama National Fair Montgomery
Alaska Kenai Peninsula State Fair Ninilchik 7,300 (2013) [1] .99%
Alaska Southeast Alaska State Fair Haines
Alaska Tanana Valley State Fair Fairbanks 12.49%
Alaska Alaska State Fair Palmer 299,698 (2015) [2] 40.68%
Arizona Arizona State Fair Phoenix 1,102,044 (2015) [3] 16.37%
Arizona Navajo Nation Fair Window Rock 100,000 (2016) [4] 57.58% (of Navajo Nation)
Arkansas Arkansas State Fair Little Rock 473,106 (2015) [5] 15.95%
California California State Fair Sacramento 673,237 (2016) [6] 1.7%
Colorado Colorado State Fair Pueblo 466,576 (2016) [7] 8.71%
Delaware Delaware State Fair Harrington 262,587 (2016) [8] 28.07%
District of Columbia DC State Fair Washington
Florida Florida State Fair Tampa 395,435 (2016) [9] 1.99%
Georgia Georgia State Fair Hampton
Georgia Georgia National Fair Perry, Georgia 535,000 (2016) [10] 5.30%
Georgia North Georgia State Fair Marietta 320,000 (2016) [11] 3.17%
Hawaii Hawaii 50th State Fair Aiea
Idaho Eastern Idaho State Fair Blackfoot 229,992 (2015) [12] 14.08%
Idaho Western Idaho Fair Boise 243,474 (2016) [13] 14.90%
Idaho North Idaho Fair [14] Coeur d'Alene 84,600 (2015) [15] 5.18%
Illinois DuQuoin State Fair Du Quoin
Illinois Illinois State Fair Springfield 509,000 (2019) [16] 4.00%
Indiana Indiana State Fair Indianapolis 730,000 (2016) [17] 11.07%
Iowa Iowa State Fair Des Moines 1,130,260 (2018) [18] 35.93%
Kansas Kansas State Fair Hutchinson 359,808 (2016) [19] 12.39%
Kentucky Kentucky State Fair Louisville 609,955 (2017)[5] 13.7%
Louisiana Cajun Heartland State Fair Lafayette
Louisiana Greater Baton Rouge State Fair Baton Rouge
Louisiana State Fair of Louisiana Shreveport 379,700 (2017) [20] 9.78%
Maine Bangor State Fair Bangor
Maine Skowhegan State Fair Skowhegan
Maine Fryeburg Fair Fryeburg 166,838 (2016) [21] 12.54%
Maryland Maryland State Fair Timonium 407,000 (2013) [22] 6.81%
Michigan Michigan State Fair Novi 92,000 (2014) [23] .93%
Michigan Upper Peninsula State Fair Escanaba 80,000 (2013) [24] .81%
Minnesota Minnesota State Fair Falcon Heights 2,126,551 (2019) [6] 37.90%
Mississippi Mississippi State Fair Jackson 733,151 (2016) [25] 24.49%
Missouri Missouri State Fair Sedalia 366,218 (2013) [26] 6.04%
Montana Montana State Fair Great Falls 54,938 (2015) [27] 5.37%
Montana MontanaFair Billings, Montana 226,333 (2016) [28] 22.10%
Nebraska Nebraska State Fair Grand Island 379,108 (2017)[7] Press Release 19.88%
Nevada Nevada State Fair Reno Closed
Nevada The Nevada Fair Carson City, Nevada 22,000 (2015) [29] .77%
New England[a] The Big E West Springfield, Massachusetts 1,629,527 (2019) [30] 10.97%[b]
New Hampshire Hopkinton State Fair Contoocook
New Jersey New Jersey State Fair Augusta 420,000 (2013) [31] 4.70%
New Mexico New Mexico State Fair Albuquerque 497,000 (2016) [32] 23.83%
New Mexico Southern New Mexico State Fair Las Cruces
New Mexico Northern Navajo Nation Fair Shiprock
New York Great New York State Fair Syracuse 1,329,275 (2019) [33] 6.8%
North Carolina North Carolina State Fair Raleigh 1,028,364 (2016) [34] 10.34%
North Carolina Dixie Classic Fair Winston Salem 357,416 (2011) 3.7%
North Carolina North Carolina Mountain State Fair Fletcher 187,819 (2007) [35] 1.89%
North Dakota North Dakota State Fair Minot 293,123 (2016) [36] 39.64%
Ohio Ohio State Fair Columbus 921,000 (2016) [37] 7.95%
Oklahoma Oklahoma State Fair Oklahoma City 900,000 (2012) [38] 23.21%
Oklahoma Tulsa State Fair Tulsa 1,206,000 (2016 estimate) [39] 31.10%
Oregon Oregon State Fair Salem 295,000 (2016 estimate) [40] 7.43%
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Farm Show Harrisburg 500,000 (approx) (2008) [41] 3.91%
Pennsylvania Allentown Fair Allentown 500,000 (approx) (2014) [42] 3.91%
Pennsylvania Butler Fair Prospect 240,000 (approx) (2011) [43] 1.88%
Pennsylvania Bloomsburg Fair Bloomsburg 364,037 (2015) [44] 2.85%
Pennsylvania Reading 40,000 (2016) [45] 0.3%
Pennsylvania York Fair York 555,252 (2016) [46] 4.34%
Rhode Island Washington County Fair Richmond around 100,000 [47] 9.48%
South Carolina South Carolina State Fair Columbia 464,878 (2016) [48] 9.62%
South Dakota South Dakota State Fair Huron 211,371 (2016) [49] 24.77%
Tennessee Tennessee State Fair Nashville 115,000 (2015) [50] 1.76%
Tennessee Delta Fair Memphis about 200,000 (2016) [51] 3.05%
Tennessee Tennessee Valley Fair Knoxville 180,000 (approx) [52] 2.75%
Texas South Texas State Fair Beaumont 175,000 (2014) [53] .65%
Texas State Fair of Texas Dallas 2,049,118 (2018) [54] 7.24%
Texas East Texas State Fair[8] Tyler about 250,000 (estimate from 2016) [55] .93%
Texas North Texas State Fair Denton 140,000 (2009)[56] .52%
Utah Utah State Fair Salt Lake City around 300,000 (2014) [57] 10.19%
Vermont Vermont State Fair Rutland 61,604 (2010) [58] 9.83%
Virginia State Fair of Virginia Caroline County 238,000 (2014) [59] 2.86%
Washington Central Washington State Fair Yakima 312,191 (2016) [60] 4.42%
Washington Evergreen State Fair Monroe 342,631 (2016) [61] 4.85%
Washington Northwest Washington Fair Lynden 189,154 (2015) [62] 2.68%
Washington Washington State Fair Puyallup 1,117,323 (2012) [63] 15.82%
West Virginia State Fair of West Virginia Fairlea 155,000-160,000 (2016) [64] 8.65%
Wisconsin Wisconsin State Fair West Allis 1,015,815 (2016) [65] 17.64%
Wisconsin Central Wisconsin State Fair Marshfield 85,000 (2015) [66] 1.48%
Wisconsin Northern Wisconsin State Fair Chippewa Falls 90,000 (2016) [67] 1.56%
Notes
  1. ^ The Eastern States Exposition, popularly known as The Big E, is a combined state fair for all six (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) New England states. Each state has its own dedicated area during the fair.
  2. ^ Percentage based on combined population for all New England states.

State fair police departments[]

Several state fairs maintain their own police departments, including:

Provincial exhibitions in Canada[]

A few annual exhibitions in the summer in Canada are similar to state fairs in the United States:

Province Fair Name Location Attendance (year)
!a !a !a -9999
!a !a !a 10000000000
Alberta Calgary Stampede Calgary 1,275,465 (2019)[9]
Alberta K-Days Edmonton 702,327 (2019)[10]
British Columbia Pacific National Exhibition Vancouver 731,708 (2019)[11]
Ontario Canadian National Exhibition Toronto 1,500,000 (2019)[12]
Ontario Ottawa SuperEX Ottawa 422,095 (2009)[13]
Ontario Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Toronto 300,000 (average per annum)[14]
Manitoba Red River Exhibition Winnipeg 203,624 (2019)[15]
Manitoba Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Brandon 110,000 (2018)[16]
Saskatchewan Canadian Western Agribition Regina 121,326 (2019)[17]

Awards[]

State and county fairs are famous for a variety of competitions that award ribbons. Awards are generally given according to the following scale:[citation needed][4]

  • First place – blue ribbon
  • Second place – red ribbon
  • Third place – white ribbon
  • Fourth place – yellow ribbon
  • Fifth place – green ribbon
  • Sixth place – orange ribbon
  • Seventh place – purple ribbon
  • Eighth place – brown ribbon

Attendance[]

As of 2019, the largest attendance at a state fair in the USA is in Minnesota attracting 2,126,551 visitors. The largest average per day attendance is also at the Minnesota State Fair averaging just under 200,000 people per day.[18]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "New York State Fair :: The Encyclopedia of New York State :: Syracuse University Press". www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  2. ^ Michigan.gov Archived November 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Granholm cuts State Fair from budget Archived November 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b It's official: State Fair a goner Archived November 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Tribble Greer, Carolyn (August 31, 2017). "It was a good year for the Kentucky State Fair". Louisville Business First. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  6. ^ "Minnesota State Fair - Attendance". www.mnstatefair.org. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  7. ^ Rollin, Kelli (5 September 2017). "State Fair 2017 attendance nears all-time record". The Grand Island Independent. BH Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  8. ^ Waterson, James and Seymour, Rachel Anne. Pulling Up Stakes: East Texas State Fair Says Goodbye Until Next Year. Tyler Morning Telegraph, October 4th, 2010, p. 1A, 6A
  9. ^ "Second highest attendance record set at Calgary Stampede". CTV News Calgary. BellMedia. July 15, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  10. ^ Ramsay, Caley (July 29, 2019). "Weather to blame for lowest K-Days attendance since 2006, Northlands says". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  11. ^ "2019 Pacific National Exhibition Annual Report: April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020" (PDF). www.pne.ca. Pacific National Exhibition. 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  12. ^ {[cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/canadian-national-exhibition-attendance-up-ex-annual-fair-numbers-higher-1.5268288%7Ctitle=Ex attendance rises to an estimated 1.5 million this year, CNE officials say|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|website=www.cbc.ca|last=Draaisma|first=Muriel}}
  13. ^ "SuperEx attendance higher than last year". ctvottawa.ca. Bell Media. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  14. ^ David, Rider (November 1, 2018). "Locked out workers to picket Royal Winter Fair". Toronto Star. Torstar Corporation. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Thompson, Sam (June 24, 2019). "Red River Ex sees uptick in 2019 attendance". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  16. ^ "Winter Fair Attracts More Than 100,000 Visitors But Registers Attendance Drop". Discover Westman. Golden West Broadcasting. April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  17. ^ Vorrieter, Karlee (2019). "Jump in international buyers, inaugural maple leaf finals rodeo and record-setting registration at Agribition 2019". Industry West. IW Media Group.
  18. ^ https://www.mnstatefair.org/about-the-fair/attendance/
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