State fair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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, 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)
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Alabama Alabama State Fair Pelham
Alabama Alabama National Fair Montgomery
Alaska Kenai Peninsula State Fair Ninilchik
Alaska Southeast Alaska State Fair Haines
Alaska Tanana Valley State Fair Fairbanks
Alaska Alaska State Fair Palmer
Arizona Arizona State Fair Phoenix 1,303,690 (2006)
Arizona Navajo Nation Fair Window Rock
Arkansas Arkansas State Fair Little Rock 467,007 (2008)
California California State Fair Sacramento 941,502 (2006)
Colorado Colorado State Fair Pueblo 400,351 (2006)
Connecticut Connecticut Agricultural Fair (defunct) Goshen
Delaware Delaware State Fair Harrington 307,000 (2007)
District of Columbia DC State Fair Washington
Florida Florida State Fair Tampa 434,067 (2006)
Georgia Georgia State Fair Hampton
Georgia Georgia National Fair Perry 445,395 (2012)
Georgia North Georgia State Fair Marietta 287,000 (2008)
Hawaii Hawaii 50th State Fair Aiea
Idaho Eastern Idaho State Fair Blackfoot
Idaho Western Idaho Fair Boise
Illinois DuQuoin State Fair DuQuoin
Illinois Illinois State Fair Springfield 700,000 (2006)
Indiana Indiana State Fair Indianapolis 975,000 (2009)
Iowa Iowa State Fair Des Moines 1,109,150 (2008)
Kansas Kansas State Fair Hutchinson
Kentucky Kentucky State Fair Louisville 614,477 (2006)
Louisiana Cajun Heartland State Fair Lafayette
Louisiana State Fair of Louisiana Shreveport
Louisiana Greater Baton Rouge State Fair Baton Rouge
Maine Bangor State Fair Bangor
Maine Fryeburg Fair Fryeburg
Maryland Maryland State Fair Timonium
Michigan Great Lakes State Fair Novi, Michigan
Michigan Michigan State Fair (defunct)[3][4][5] Detroit 217,000 (2009) [6]
Michigan Upper Peninsula State Fair Escanaba 80,000 (2013)
Minnesota Minnesota State Fair Falcon Heights 1,731,162 (2013)
Mississippi Mississippi State Fair Jackson
Missouri Missouri State Fair Sedalia 340,000 (2005)
Montana Montana State Fair Great Falls
Nebraska Nebraska State Fair Grand Island 289,683 (2006)
Nevada Nevada State Fair (defunct)[7] Reno
New England The Big E West Springfield, MA 1,260,487 (2009)[8]
New Hampshire Hopkinton State Fair Contoocook
New Jersey New Jersey State Fair Augusta
New Jersey State Fair Meadowlands East Rutherford 400,000 (2011)
New Mexico New Mexico State Fair Albuquerque 738,664 (2006)
New Mexico Southern New Mexico State Fair Las Cruces
New Mexico Northern Navajo Nation Fair Shiprock
New York Great New York State Fair Syracuse 1,102,995 (2006)
North Carolina North Carolina State Fair Raleigh 1,009,173 (2011)
North Carolina North Carolina Mountain State Fair Fletcher, North Carolina 187,819 (2007)
North Dakota North Dakota State Fair Minot 247,970 (2006)
Ohio Ohio State Fair Columbus 814,512 (2006)
Oklahoma Oklahoma State Fair Oklahoma City 900,000 (2012)
Oklahoma Tulsa State Fair Tulsa 1,022,000 (2012)
Oregon Oregon State Fair Salem
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Farm Show Harrisburg 500,000 (approx) (2008)
Pennsylvania Big Butler Fair Prospect 240,000 (approx) (2011)
Pennsylvania York Fair York 650,000 (approx) (2010)
Rhode Island Washington County Fair Richmond
South Carolina South Carolina State Fair Columbia 492,395 (2010)
South Dakota South Dakota State Fair Huron
Tennessee Tennessee State Fair Nashville
Tennessee Delta Fair Memphis
Tennessee Tennessee Valley Fair Knoxville, Tennessee 180,000 (approx)
Texas South Texas State Fair Beaumont
Texas State Fair of Texas Dallas 3,000,000 (approx) (2003)
Texas East Texas State Fair[9] Tyler
Texas North Texas State Fair Denton 140,000 (2009)
Utah Utah State Fair Salt Lake City 325,000
Vermont Vermont State Fair Rutland 61,604 (2010)
Virginia State Fair of Virginia Caroline County 226,924 in 2010
Washington Central Washington State Fair Yakima 304,000 (2012)[10]
Washington Evergreen State Fair Monroe
Washington Northwest Washington Fair Lynden 214,315 in 2009
Washington Washington State Fair Puyallup 1,065,208 in 2010
West Virginia State Fair of West Virginia Fairlea
Wisconsin Wisconsin State Fair West Allis 911,231 (2011)
Wisconsin Central Wisconsin State Fair Marshfield
Wisconsin Northern Wisconsin State Fair Chippewa Falls 70,956 (2013)[11]
Wyoming Wyoming State Fair Douglas

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)
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Ontario Canadian National Exhibition Toronto 1,300,000 (2011)
British Columbia Pacific National Exhibition Vancouver 800,000 (2011)[12]
Ontario Ottawa SuperEX/Midway Magic at the Fair Ottawa 422,095 (2009)[13]
Ontario Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Thunder Bay
Alberta K-Days Edmonton 740,339 (2012)
Alberta Calgary Stampede Calgary 1,409,371 (2012) [14]
Manitoba Red River Exhibition Winnipeg 233,000 (2011)

Awards

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

  • 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

The largest attendance at a State Fair in the USA is in Texas attracting an estimated 3,000,000 people annually. The largest average per day attendance is at the Minnesota State Fair averaging over 150,000 people per day.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/encyclopedia/entries/new-york-state-fair.html
  2. ↑ Michigan.gov
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Granholm cuts State Fair from budget
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 It's official: State Fair a goner
  5. ↑ Michiganians struggle with loss of state fair
  6. ↑ The Future of the Michigan State Fair
  7. ↑ "Nevada State Fair ending after 136 years amid budget crunch". Associated Press. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2013. 
  8. ↑ Thebige.com
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ "Attendance Goes Over 304,000 Mark as Fair Finishes Another Great Run". Cental Washington State Fair. October 1, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Northern WI State Fair Attendance" (Press release). Northern Wisconsin State Fair. July 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013. 
  12. ↑ http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/274177--pne-sees-massive-drop-in-attendance
  13. ↑ http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/tag/superex/
  14. ↑ http://news.calgarystampede.com/News/Latest-News/Release-Details/2012/Calgary-Stampede-sets-new-cumulative-attendance-record/default.aspx
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