Kentucky State Fair

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Freddy Farm Bureau, a mainstay at the Kentucky State Fair.
Freddy Farm Bureau, a mainstay at the Kentucky State Fair.

The Kentucky State Fair is the state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. It lasts eleven days and includes competitions in crafts such as quilt-making, homebrewed beers, and home-made pastries, as well as fine arts and agricultural competitions. The World Championship Horse Show is the fair's most famous event. Attendees can also enjoy live music (The Oak Ridge Boys always have a concert), various exhibitions and performances, and unique events such as pig racing. A number of exhibitor spaces are available and are popular with area businesses, but are also reserved by area churches and politicians as well.

The fair was organized in 1816, just five years after the United States' first fair in Massachusetts. Fayette County farmer Colonel Lewis Sanders (no known relation to Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) was the organizer. The event did not become an official state fair until 1902. The fair moved from city to city until 1908, when Louisville became the fair's permanent home. Churchill Downs has hosted the fair on three separate occasions, particularly during World War II. The fair moved to its current site in 1956.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, which is located on the Exposition Center grounds, becomes a part of the midway during the run of each year's fair.

The fair has had attendance of over 600,000 for 18 years as of 2006. The 2006 attendance was 614,477, down two percent from 2005. [1]


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