# Do All 50 States Have a State Fair? And a few other state fair Qs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833 "2004-08-14T15:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/21 "2004-08-14T20:31:25Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > So it appears that the following is a complete list of the state fairs that aren’t in the state capital and the distances (as nearly as I can measure with some crummy maps): > > Maryland: In Timonium, which is 40 miles from Annapolis. > Delaware: In Harrington, which is 60 miles from Dover. > Missouri: In Sedalia, which is 80 miles from Jefferson City. > New York: In Syracuse, which is 160 miles from Albany. > Wyoming: In Douglas, which is 200 miles from Cheyenne. > Texas: In Dallas, which is 200 miles from Austin. > Alaska: In Palmer, which is 400 miles from Juneau. New Mexico: In Albuquerque about 50 Miles from Santa Fe. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/22 "2004-08-14T21:01:58Z")
Kentucky: Louisville, about 55 miles from Frankfort. The KY State Fair Midway is also Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom the rest of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/23 "2004-08-14T21:03:03Z")
[Here ya go](http://www.fairsandexpos.com/fair/state.aspx), a listing of fairs in each state. Mississippi has 13 fairs listed there, including a _State_ Fair, a Tri-_state_ Fair, a central mississippi fair, a south mississippi fair, and a north mississippi _State_ Fair. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/24 "2004-08-14T21:13:47Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > So it appears that the following is a complete list of the state fairs that aren’t in the state capital and the distances (as nearly as I can measure with some crummy maps): > > Maryland: In Timonium, which is 40 miles from Annapolis. > Delaware: In Harrington, which is 60 miles from Dover. > Missouri: In Sedalia, which is 80 miles from Jefferson City. > New York: In Syracuse, which is 160 miles from Albany. > Wyoming: In Douglas, which is 200 miles from Cheyenne. > Texas: In Dallas, which is 200 miles from Austin. > Alaska: In Palmer, which is 400 miles from Juneau. Wisconsin: in West Allis, about 74 (by Map Quest) miles from Madison ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/25 "2004-08-14T21:33:19Z")
Colorado: in Pueblo, 100 miles from Denver. My ex-wife and I went frequently. When she was married to her first husband, her son raised goats and sheep for the Massachusetts fair (as already corrected, in W. Springfield), and she enjoyed going on the days when judging happened for those species. I just sat next to her and expressed bewilderment: “Donna, why is he grabbing that goat by the balls? Donna, she’s not _really_ sticking her finger up that sheep’s ass, is she?” And so on. ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/26 "2004-08-14T22:01:32Z")
The State Fair of West Virginia is in Lewisburg, about 112 miles from Charleston, the capital. ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/27 "2004-08-15T01:01:40Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Here’s the list to date, with state capital and fair site: > > ```auto > > State Capital Fair Site > ... > Michigan Lansing > ... > > ``` :eek: Gee whillikers, but you scared me! You had me thinking they’d gone and moved it since I moved out of state! {Oh, Michigan, my Michigan \} But they haven’t. > [@](#): > > 2004 > MICHIGAN STATE FAIR > August 11th - August 22nd > > \ > LOCATION > We are conveniently and centrally located in southeast Michigan at the corner of Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in Detroit - two miles from I-75, three miles from I-696, and eight miles from I-94. > … (from [here](http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1571_29003-10945--,00.html)) It’s been in Detroit for (IIRC) a century or more, or at least many decades (like, before I was born, which was during WWII). Of course, I wouldn’t call Woodward & 8 Mile in Detroit “centrally located”. It’s practically as far in the SE corner as it can get! Bureaucrats, hmmmmph!! :smack: The site is a large acreage (the city of Detroit has been rather frustrated in recent years that there’s that much land from which it can derive no revenues; the complaints got louder after “outstate” visitors {read=farmers & their reps} started complaining about illegal activities on the periphery. The Detroit City Council would **love** to redevelop that nice, big plot.) with a number of large, permanent buildings, which were probably built during the depression by one of FDR’s employment programs. The premises, or parts thereof, are rented out for other events throughout the year - dog shows being the “other event” with which I am most familiar. And, I can tell ya, those big barns are pretty &\*(@#$ cold during the winter! \ And that’s what color your fingers turn, when you’re showing a dog (no gloves, etc., in the ring) at a dog show in December or January! :dubious: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/28 "2004-08-15T03:31:46Z")
North Carolina has an official state fair in the capital of Raleigh during October. In my neck of the woods, we have the Mountain State Fair, also sponsored by the state Department of Agriculuture, for a week in September. Fried green tomatoes, roller coasters, and llamas…I can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/29 "2004-08-15T04:11:41Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Polycarp your table did not include the location of the New Mexico state fair which is in Albuquerque. What’s really fun about the New Mexico State Fairgrounds is that they are in the middle of Albuquerque and actually about three miles from my house. And I mean really in the middle of the city–it’s bordered by Central, Louisiana, San Pedro, and Lomas. There’s a big wall all around it. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/30 "2004-08-15T13:15:50Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > So it appears that the following is a complete list of the state fairs that aren’t in the state capital and the distances (as nearly as I can measure with some crummy maps): > > Maryland: In Timonium, which is 40 miles from Annapolis. > Delaware: In Harrington, which is 60 miles from Dover. > Missouri: In Sedalia, which is 80 miles from Jefferson City. > New York: In Syracuse, which is 160 miles from Albany. > Wyoming: In Douglas, which is 200 miles from Cheyenne. > Texas: In Dallas, which is 200 miles from Austin. > Alaska: In Palmer, which is 400 miles from Juneau. Also: South Dakota: in Huron, 116 miles from Pierre (pronounced PEER). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/31 "2004-08-15T14:59:24Z")
BTW, in SC, “State Fair” has absolutely nothing to do with any official sanctioning of the State. The South Carolina State Fair is just the name of the company that brings in the fair operators. It’s probably that way in a lot of states, too. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/32 "2004-08-15T18:00:40Z")
> [@Laughing Lagomorph](#): > > Apparently the Massachusetts State Fair is synonymous with “The Big E” or The Eastern States Exposition, which I have been to several times now. It is held in West Springfield and has been for years. Like Syracuse in New York, West Springfield is as close as anywhere else to the agricultural center of the state. > > They also cannily market the event as a regional thing, thereby getting a lot of visitors from Connecticut, Vermont, New York and elsewhere as well as Mass. itself. [The Big E](http://www.thebige.com/bige.html) isn’t just marketed to other states; all of the New England states (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and VT) are active participants. You can walk down the [Avenue of States](http://www.thebige.com/detpages/bige10147.html) and see life-size replicas of each New England state’s original statehouse sitting on land actually owned by that state. Reportedly each building is akin to an embassy, and when in the New Hampshire building, you are legally in New Hampshire. To that end, they sell NH lottery tickets in their building, for example. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/33 "2004-08-15T18:13:18Z")
So you can steal something out of the Vermont building and hit a security guard and then run into the New Hampshire building and demand that you only be turned over to the local authorities if you are extradited? I don’t know if states can grant extraterritorial status to other states. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/34 "2004-08-15T19:01:47Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > I don’t know if states can grant extraterritorial status to other states. Nor do I, hence the “reportedly” in my previous post. They do sell New Hampshire lottery tickets in their building, though, which is not done anywhere else outside of New Hampshire, so far as I’m aware. In fact, the NH Lottery is one of the [official exhibitors](http://www.thebige.com/user-cgi/pages.cgi?category=exihibitors&dbkey=12&location=6) for the NH state building. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/35 "2004-08-15T19:13:02Z")
Alabama: Birmingham, 91 miles north of Montgomery Vermont: Rutland, 67 miles south of Montpelier ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/36 "2004-08-15T20:57:33Z")
In New England, they don’t seem to have a tradition of an official state fair, instead having various local fairs, some of which have gained prominence, and the title “state fair.” Vermont is the only one of these where the state’s name is included in the title of the fair, which is nonetheless run by a local organization. Connecticut and Rhode Island do not appear to have any state fair, while New Hampshire has the Hopkinton State Fair, in Contoocook 16 miles W of Concord, and Maine has the Bangor State Fair, 77 miles NE of Augusta. Likewise Pennsylvania seems to have a lot of local fairs, one of which refers to itself as “The State Fair”, in Bensalem 115 miles E of Harrisburg. The New Jersey State Fair® is in Augusta, 85 miles N of Trenton, but should not be confused with the Bennigan’s State Fair Meadowlands, 66 miles N of Trenton. In Idaho they have the Eastern Idaho _State_ Fair, in Blackfoot, 255 miles E of Boise. And the Western Idaho Fair, in Boise. Some other state fair locations: Oregon - Salem Minnesota - St Paul Iowa - Des Moines Utah - Salt Lake City Virginia - Richmond Kansas - Hutchinson, 177 miles SW of Topeka Florida - Tampa, 278 miles S of Tallahassee A good resource for state fair dates and links is [http://www.fairdates.com/](http://www.fairdates.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/37 "2004-08-16T01:22:32Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Colorado: in Pueblo, 100 miles from Denver. Yeah. And this time of year, you can drive out to the produce stands east of Pueblo on US50 and experience a true delight - the smell of fresh chili peppers being fire roasted, bushel at a time. Man I miss that! tpayne, former Pueblo (and Sphinx Park) Colorado resident ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/38 "2004-08-16T01:23:15Z")
The “state fair” that’s held in Harrisburg is officially the state [Farm Show](http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/farmshow/site/default.asp). It’s interesting that when I was growing up in Altoona, PA, that Blair County never had a county fair, while the surrounding counties always did. It never dawned on me that this was because Blair was probably the most urban county in between Dauphin and Allegheny and county fairs are primarily agricultural in nature. Hey, I was a city boy! ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/39 "2004-08-16T01:24:33Z")
You know there’s actually only 48 states. ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833/40 "2004-08-16T01:25:28Z")
In addition to what has been noted above, Fryeburg, Maine has the Fryeburg Fair, which, according to their website, is “…Maine’s largest agricultural fair complete with six days of harness racing, a farm museum second to none, the world’s largest steer and oxen show and a reputation known throughout North America.” Fryeburg is about 85 miles from Augusta, and is practically on the New Hampshire border. The wife and I stumbled upon the Fryeburg Fair during our honeymoon. Lobster-on-a-stick…yum!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-50-states-have-a-state-fair-and-a-few-other-state-fair-qs/259833.md?page=3)