Mid-South Fair

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The Mid-South Fair is a fair held in Memphis, Tennessee, every year around late September to early October. It hosts many shows and attractions, as well as different types of rides and concession stands. Not only is it popular in the Memphis area but also in the surrounding states of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.

The 2008 event will take place September 19-28 at the Mid-South Fairgrounds for its 152nd year, and its last in Memphis. The fair's lease on the Mid-South Fairgrounds, owned by the City of Memphis, expires in 2008, and the city announced it would not renew the lease so that the land could be redeveloped.

In 2008, the fair's board of directors announced that the fair site would move to a new site in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi, close to the area's casinos. The new fair site, on land donated by a local developer, may not be ready in time for the 2009 fair, necessitating one-time move to a temporary site.^[1]^[2]^[3]

1 History
2 Attractions
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The Shelby County Agricultural Society agreed to host the second fair in the fall of 1856. During World War I, the military used the Mid South Fair to find recruits. In 1908, the name was changed to the Tri-State Fair to encourage more people in areas around Memphis to attend the fair. In 1911, African Americans founded the Negro Tri State Fair. The Tri State Fair was discontinued in 1959.

[edit] Attractions

Events and attractions at the Mid-South Fair include a carnival midway and rides, concerts (Ronnie Milsap and The Sugarhill Gang were featured in 2007), a home-made ice cream contest, a horticulture contest, the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show, agricultural exhibits, a pig race, and the world's largest youth talent contest. Previous entrants in the talent contest (first held in 1953) include Mississippi natives Elvis Presley and Lance Bass and Tennessee native Justin Timberlake.