I think we’re gonna go to the Maryland RenFest this weekend. So yes.
And we usually go to the county fair on the day all the schools are closed so the kids can go.
As a kid we lived a couple miles (over a big hill) from the county fair. So we’d ride bikes to it and spend the day there just goofing around. (And then spend evenings there while the 'rents were at the horse races.)
So I grew up liking them. Attended a few here when the kids were little. No so great. So we stopped. That was some years ago.
A wide variety of my sexual fantasies are focused on fairs, particularly the truck pulls.
We used to be in downeast Maine around Labor Day fairly frequently, and we always tried to make it to the Blue Hill Fair, which is the one that figured in the final chapters of E.B. White’s classic Charlotte’s Web.. The ice cream was good, but it always is in Maine.
Please! Tell us less.
Would you like to hear about the ice cream instead?
I usually go to the MN State Fair once a year. I go by myself, and see all the things my friends aren’t interested in. Did you know they do llama steeple chases? I know that now.
Chickens that look like muppets. 4H kids showing off their ducks/goats/sheep/rabbits.
I wander through the creative arts building, and see the amazing things that people make, like quilts, canoes and furniture.
And then I time things so I can watch the draft horse wagon pulling judging. 8 entries, each with 6 1-ton horses, all moving around an arena, is a damn impressive sight.
I try to get to the LA County Fair every year. We get to commune with the livestock, eat fried junk-on-a-stick, check out the vendor halls to see the out-of-work actors hawking knives and blenders, marvel at the butter sculpture, maybe bet on some horse races, people watch (we call it K-Mart with Cows), and get sunburned. What’s not to love? Oh, I forgot to mention the 2 hour drive to get there! Good times!
Ah, yes. That’s the thing I was wondering about other fairs: the vendor halls. I enjoy that part of the fair for some odd reason, even though it’s all about people trying to get me to part with my money to buy shit I have no use for and/or that doesn’t work nearly as well as advertised. Love it!
I didn’t see anything like that at the Maryland State Fair, though I was pleased to see that they had hot tubs on sale just like in LA. And Maryland had tractors for sale, too. Never saw that in LA that I can recall.
I go to state/county fairs every so often on photo expedtions. There’s no shortage of colorful and interesting things to take pictures of. And of course I have to have a potato tornado and a deep fried twinkie when I’m there, right?
That was one of the sad parts about the SD state fair this year, no new and interesting fair foods to try. It was all the same food booths as last year.
When I lived in OK we would go to the one in Tulsa. I loved the horses and they had these great jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzels.
Where I live know we have the Comal County Fair and the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo. Before I got bored with rodeo’s I went to he one’s held at the Comal Fair, the SALSR’s one was too expensive.
The CCF has TONS of interesting chicken and rabbit breeds on display, while the SALSR has a whole barn dedicated to horses.
Unfortunately there seems to be some sort of violence at many of the fairs in the state. There are always problems at the state fair including a shooting this year. The church fair they used to have in the town I grew up in eventually shut down because of the bad element that would show up every evening. Come for the rides and see the Bloods and Crips fighting! No thanks.
On the other hand I live in a rural county and the 4H fair is like it should be. I took my daughter there a few weekends ago and we wandered around looking at the animals. She decided to not go on any rides but that’s ok.
When the annual July Carnival takes place in our town, we always joke about being extra vigilant, because of the carnies.
We do one day at the Iowa State Fair every year because my daughter’s dance team performs. We watch her dance and then stay to look at the animals and butter cow and eat really bad food. We went to the Polk County Fair this year to watch her best friend show horses, but there is literally nothing that happens at that fair but the 4H judging. Not even food vendors.
Sure, we go to our county fair (end of August) when we’re in town. One of the biggest in the state but alas no butter cow. Usually take a spin through the barns, check out the food and craft awards to see if anyone we know is a winner (generally not), spend a chunk of time in the commercial halls (good old American hucksterism at work and every so often there’s some interesting food or other on sale). And we people watch and gawk at the occasional strolling entertainers. And once in a while we try to win some dreck at a midway game…but mostly we eat. Fair food, overpriced but delicious.
This was also my grandson’s first fair–loved the animals, seemed to enjoy the crowds, but wasn’t sure about the merry go round …
You can tell our state fair is truly an agricultural fair just by the sheer size of some of the buildings dedicated to the animals. Plus they have different buildings for different types of animals. The buildings dedicated to the crop and vegetable displays aren’t exactly small either.
I enjoy going the annual county fair. I don’t care much for the rides anymore, I now prefer larger scale thrill rides, but I still like the vendor hall, livestock shows, craft/food competitions and even some of the carnival games. In fact, the fair starts in just a week! The grandson is 2, he’ll have a blast!
Love them. Art fairs, county fairs, renaissance fairs, all of 'em. I haven’t been down to the State fair in years, but if I had the time and money I would go. (I always have one or the other. LOL!)
I need a new crew for the Renaissance fair. Last year I made plans with a group of friends and decided to surprise them by getting costumes for everyone. Nice ones too. Apparently I was the only person who thought that sounded like fun. 8-(
ETA: And just once before I die, I’m going to enter an apple pie and a pint of watermelon pickles in the State fair contest.
Do they have the pig races? Piglets running and swimming in their lanes are adorable. I went to the Tunbridge (VT) World’s Fair and said to a friend on the phone words I had never said before – “OK, meet you by the pig races!”
I got a blue ribbon and $16 for my quilt entry at the fair up north. 
I have been to the Minnesota State Fair every year for the past 60 years.
But as I get older, I no longer exhibit animals any more, just volunteer for various organizations that are at the Fair. I organized about 80 volunteer shifts in the horse barn this year, and just finished writing Thank you cards to all of them last night. But I was only at the Fair in person for 6 of the 12 days this year.
The Minnesota State Fair is a major event – every state-wide elected official is there, and total attendance is almost half of the states’ population.