County (or State) Fair

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 9:54pm

How many of you have ever been to a County or State Fair?

When I was growing up, we went to a County Fair that was great. I still go every year.

They had animal displays and food displays and flower displays. They had booths where businesses gave away free pens or buttons. They had all types of food: sausage & peppers, 4-H milkshakes, corn dogs, walk away sundaes, cotton candy. They had rides: ferris wheels, roller coaster, merry go round. They had games of chance: pop a balloon with a dart, throw a ping pong ball into a goldfish bowl, pitch a dime onto a plate and win a stuffed animal or a record or a poster. They had attractions: Hitler's bullet proof car, a two headed calf. They had has-been country singers and never-were bands. They had a talent show for teenagers.

What did your fair have?

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 9:59pm

i go to the big e every year, and also the berlin fair and celebrate west hartford.

the big e is HUGE. it's got stuff from all over new england, and the state houses, where every house represents a different state and you can walk through eating foods that state is known for... like in the maine house there were baked potatos and blueberries.
they also have normal fair stuff like 4h contests, food, concerts, rides, animals, crafts, all kinds of fun stuff.

the berlin fair is like the big e but smaller, and celebrate west hartford is even smaller.

i'm going to the cheif show on friday... it's a kind of a firefighter fair. you can get fire department shirts and stuff from all over ct, and stuff for kids too.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 10:07pm

There's a huge fair in the NW - the Western Washington Fair, aka the Puyallup Fair, which ranks among the top 10 fairs in the world. Great food, rides, concerts. It's an event around here.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:21pm

I've always wanted to go to one. I hate fried foods in general, but this "fried coke" that was all the rage at county fairs last year has me curious.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:25pm

I gotta ask...what the HELL is Fried Coke?

Nvm...it's batter, dipped in coke syrup, fried, and topped with more syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_coke

Wow...one more reason to be sad I am from TX.

Updated On: 6/18/07 at 11:25 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:31pm

It sounds so gross and yet strangely I want to try it. I think it would make me very very sick though. Where do they come up with this stuff?

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:36pm

"Certain sources mention that many people enjoy dipping doughnuts in Fried Coke"

*vomits*

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:36pm

I was in 4-H for most of my elementary and all of my high school days. The county fair was the highlight of the summer. I raised beef cattle to show...so it was 3 days of grooming the cows...running around the exhibits...showing the cows...running around the exhibits...spending the 3 nights in either the stall with the cows or in the back of a grain truck...running around the midway...water balloon fights and crying like crazy when I sold my cows at the auction at the end of the fair. Ah, the good ole days.

Several years ago, while visiting family I went back to the fair just to see what it was like. It had changed so much that it didn't seem like it was the same fair. There were very few live stock exhibits, mostly vegetables, sewing and woodworking. The carnival was almost non-existent. I guess there are somethings from your childhood that you should just leave as a memory.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:49pm

i was going to show one of my bunnies at the berlin fair this year (i had a purebred jersey wooly) but the groomer i trusted to take care of him killed him last month

the dutch rabbit in my avatar, patches, is purebred and has the papers to prove it, but she has non-show markings so she's out.

my others are half dutch half jersey wooly (although one could pass for pure jersey wooly) except one who's a checkered giant but has no papers so he can't be in a show.

so no ribbons for lauren and her bunnies this year

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 12:26am

I was born spittin' distance to Churchill Downs, and our subdivision opened onto the entrance of the KY State Fair. It was a pretty big deal in the early 60s. Then we moved to Philly and the closest thing we had to a state fair every yr was the Devon Horse Show.

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 8:44am

I used to do the horse shows at both county and state fairs, and if I wasn't showing, my mother's cousin was, so we used to go a lot.

Oh Abba, I'm sorry about your bunny

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 8:58am

I grew up in Columbus, Ohio and the Ohio State Fair was absolutely the BIGGEST thing in the world as far as we were concerned. We even got a holiday from school to go to it. I loved going to the stock barns and seeing all the animals. For some reason the smell of those barns (which turns many people off) was always good to me. There were a million and one things to see and do (and eat) at the fair. Favorite eats for me was the roast pork sandwiches. They were better than anything I've ever had anywhere else. (Probably because you were at the fair when you were eating them!) They got celebrity guests each day and when I was 6, my dad took me to see Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. I idolized Roy Rogers so nothing could ever come close to the excitement of that day!

Updated On: 6/19/07 at 08:58 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:11am

My partner and I go to the L.A. County Fair every year. It's HUGE. With the usual farm animals, flower and quilt shows, rides, and every kind of food you could want--on a stick!

Not only is everything deep-fried, it always seems to be on a stick. I've seen pizza, chocolate chip cookies and Key Lime Pie on a stick. I didn't try any of those... but I did try a deep-fried Snickers bar. It was gooey and way too sweet... but tasty in a crazy way, if you only had one or two bites. I would have been ill, if I'd eaten the whole thing.

The fair also has endless "infomercial" booths, where they try to sell you everything from dryer balls to hot tubs... it all "slices and dices and makes Julien Fries," and it's all on sale today at the fair.

They also have an enormous outdoor miniature train set, which is cool. It's very elaborate. They also had the entire living room set from the Brady Bunch there one year... in the Fine Arts Building, if that tells you anything. We laughed a long while about that.

We love the tackiness, the decadence and the homeyness of the county fairs each year. I grew up going to them in Kansas... and while the L.A. County Fair is a FAR cry from those days, we still look forward to going each year.

[ALittleNorthofKansas]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:14am

hehe - you said dryer balls

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:17am

I go to our Grange Fair every year in August. It's just like the LA fair that Besty describes, only smaller. Sally Starr (a local kids show celebrity) hosts a talent show every year and one year I was a "celebrity judge". I've even entered the food competitions and won the Blue Ribbon for five years straight for my Salsa.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:22am

Oh! And one of my favorite things is the talent.

They always have bands like Tower of Power, Styx, Alabama, KC & the Sunshine Band and Earth Wind & Fire playing there at night. Also Donna Summer!

But my favorites are the local "cloggers" (HEFTY gals in frilly skirts, one and all) and the Chinese acrobats (really good!) each year. They perform in one of those big infomercial buildings. And we MUST watch, ever year.

They also have specialty exhibits each year... like the celebrity and vintage cars. My favorite was the 1960s Batmobile on display.

EDIT: SOMMS--I've heard your sauce is award-winning.

Updated On: 6/19/07 at 09:22 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:24am

Here's some big ol' hangin' dryer balls for ALittleNorthofKansas...

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:25am

i used to go to the middlesex county fair each year as a kid, but i always left disappointed that the fair never lived up to it's name. the most i ever saw was a few men's bellys when half shirts were all the rage.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:28am

But did you ever catch a glimpse of dryer balls, RobbO?

[RobbO]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:29am

actually...

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:31am

Many people go to the fair just for the dryer balls alone.

[ALittleNorthofKansas]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 9:33am

Best - Sorry about your blue balls.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:13am

We sometimes refer to the fair as Straight Pride Day, too. It's comforting and heartwarming to go out once a year and see them celebrating so openly.

It must be a freeing experience for them!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:17am

There is nothing more freeing for them than the combined smell of cow dung and funnel cakes.
Updated On: 6/19/07 at 10:17 AM

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/19/07 at 10:19am

best when is the LA County fair?

I used to go to So Cal Expo which was, prob still is the So Cal State Fair for the Southern part of the state.

The Riverside County Fair is down the street in Indio, but we've never gone.

I always went to the Michigan State Fair when I lived there.

But the best were county fairs when I was growing up in Nor Cal......always getting a pet chameleon, and having them always sadly die.

I went to the Iowa State Fair once, was a lot of fun