We've been talking about going to our State Fair all week, but it is so doggone hot here that I'm not sure we've got the energy to face it. I think the temperature got up to about 104 yesterday, and it must have only cooled down about 20 degrees overnight, cause it still feels hot out there.

But if we do go ... we'll see the HUGE horse they've got there, and we always enjoy the exhibits/demonstration hall where they hawk all those interesting, sometimes-useful items such as miracle mops and pots and pan.

Ours was last week, and we didn't go because of the heat. The newspaper said attendance was down considerably this year. I like to look at the quilts and the food entries, while my husband likes the flower exhibits. We usually eat at a booth from a local fish restaurant that is located on the river and has so many customers it closes down in the winter when the owners go to Florida.

The paper publishes the recipes for blue-ribbon-winning cakes, pies, cookies, etc. Many times I try them, but this year's didn't sound extra special. Last year, now . . . chocolate cake with orange filling and chocolate icing. It was yummy. I've made it half a dozen times during the year.

The NY State fair was a big event when I grew up in Syracuse. There were special buses from downtown to the fair. I remember when I was finally deemed old enough to go by myself with friends...yes, young parents, there was a time when the world was considered safe. I can't think of anything I didn't like. One top memory was the first of the season McIntosh apples...so crisp and juicy. One night we would go with our parents and spend the night on the Midway with all the lights. We took our kids one year when Syracuse was on our route on a road trip of about a month...it was fun, and hadn't changed all that much since the 60's.

Oh, I have happy memories of the Iowa State Fair in the 1960s and later the South Plains Fair in Lubbock, Texas. It's funny that I remember them so fondly because I usually wound up sick from eating foot-long hot dogs, foot-long ears of buttered corn, gallons of lemonade, funnel cakes, and great wads of cotton candy. THEN I would go on the "Hammer" ride or the "Tilt-a-Whirl" or the roller coaster and lose everything. One time it happened in the "Hall of Mirrors" maze: I was so disoriented that I collided with an unmirrored glass wall. Do they still have mirror mazes? It seems a rather old-fashioned kind of fun.

Garrison Keillor's show is from the MN state fair tonight.

Our equivalent of the State Fair in Western Australia is the Royal Show. It focusses on bringing the country to the city and is looked forward to, by children especially. They save their pocket-money and are given special spending money to buy 'show bags'. These are made up by various commercial manufacturers and are carefully vetted by the Show's organisers. They must be at least worth more than the face value and not rubbishy items.
We used to show our Deerhounds so got free passes. This meant we could leave them with someone once the judging was over and roam around the stands and exhibitions. It was customary to show your own dogs, much to the surprise of an overseas judge who was used to seeing professional handlers do that and he expressed his shock later especially when he saw me casually ask another breeder to show a puppy for me when I had two in the same class and my husband got called away! No rivalry then!
Enjoy your fairs everyone and all the 'naughty' food that is so much a part of the day!

In the UK Agricultural/County shows are held throughout the summer and are a great way for old farming friends to get together either for some gentle rivalry or over a few drinks in the beer tent.
This year because of serious rain and flooding closely followed by outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease shows were either cancelled or programmes had to be amended.
Always a great atmosphere of damp tweed, muddy wellies and the pong of dung mixed with diesel and burger fumes.
Besides the latest farm machinery and cattle parades, dog shows are popular, sometimes with a working sheep dog display and terrier racing.
The local hunt plus hounds are always there . . . since Blair's Govt banned fox hunting ('unofficially' on the unusual grounds that fox-hunting types failed to support the miner's strike in the '80's. They admitted they were not much concerned with the welfare of foxes!) it has never been so popular.
The more 'local' shows organise lots of exhibitions of veggies/flowers/baking/jam making etc.
Our local show used to be at Moreton-in-Marsh a small town in the North Cotswolds and the last time I went I took a friend back from living in Canada. To my terrible embarrassment she ate all the 'First Prize' sausages rolls when no-one was looking. See what happens when you emigrate?

Here is a link that might be useful: Moreton Show

I've never been to a state fair but have sometimes gone to the Santa Clara County Fair. It was held earlier in August. For several years I've skipped it. Parts of the county are still agricultural, but the northern part is now all the computer industry, and the great orchards of the past are mostly housing plans now. It is a pity, IMO. I liked seeing goats and ornamental chickens, as well as demonstration gardens. The last time I went, the agricultural flavor of the fair was greatly diluted; it was more like a carnival than a fair.

Rosefolly

rosefolly- I remember when our state fair was beginnig to show the changes in family farming. We watched over the years as Machinery Hill had fewer and fewer large tractors and other implements on display. Now the Hill has only small garden tractors, lawn mowers, etc. Still, this fair never was one that was strictly agricutural in events, displays or competitions, so it has survived the transition, thankfully.

veer - You made me laugh out loud with the story of your hungry cousin! BTW, I know the Proms is not at all a fair, so forgive me for going off thread for a bit, but it certainly is a large and unique gathering of people who come together to celebrate music and the UK. Have you ever attended?

I haven't been in years, but this thread brought back lots of nice memories. I'm also shocked when I remember that we kids were dropped off at the fair all day, by ourselves!

thyrkas, I suppose you could call the Proms a 'Musical Fair'.
I haven't been to the Albert Hall for many years and didn't stand among the Promenaders but sat high up and far away.
There is a wonderful atmosphere throughout the season, with some outstanding music, orchestras and soloists.
The 'Last Night' of the Proms' will be on this Saturday (8th) and the second half is the usual light-hearted, letting the hair down fun and noise.
On the site below you can click on the 'Listen Again' button.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Proms

veer- Thanks for the link to The Proms. I didn't realize there would be anything on the stage besides the musicians/conductors!
Our public radio station is going to carry "The Last Night of the Proms" next weekend - I will try to listen in.

One of the ongoing themes of the Fair here is putting things 'on a stick'. People get pretty clever at using that idea to promote their product. My favorite was offered by a local writers' guild - they offered a 'Poem on a Stick' - as a freebie of course. A very fun way for poets to get their work in front of the public.

I grew up in a small, rural town, and remember our State Fairs very well. Always took place during the heat of July. It usually opened with an Indian Rain Dance. There was a carnival that lasted about one week and many 4-H sponsored events and contests (pies, crafts, square dancing, etc.). My parents always bought a cow at the auction, which was our beef supply for the year. I think the rodeo came for one or two nights as well.

I liked the Tilt-a-Whirl, but you couldn't get me on that Zipper contraption. As a very small child, I also remember riding the ponies and jumping up and down in the moon walk.

Correction -- I was speaking of our County Fair above.

>One of the ongoing themes of the Fair here is putting things 'on a stick'.

At our State Fair the trend seems to be toward frying everything. For the last two years the hot item has been fried Twinkies ... as if they needed more fat added. (A twinkie is a sponge-cake-type pastry filled with a sweet whip-cream-like concoction.)

From our local paper:

Topping the list is Deep Fried Love, an edible homage to Elvis Presley. Boghosian takes one of the King's favorite foods -- the peanut butter and banana sandwich -- adds honey and batter, and deep-fries it for this hunka-hunka outrageous offering. (Elvis reportedly liked his grilled.)

Boghosian also will be serving deep-fried Coca-Cola. No straw needed. For that, he mixes Coke syrup with a flour batter and fries it, then tops it with more soda syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.

To top off the fry-fecta, there's deep-fried cheesecake. "The inside is cold and the outside is hot -- kind of like an apple pie with ice cream; I'm real proud of that," he says.

Makes my stomach hurt just to read about it. :0

Wow, sarah canary! Maybe Mr Boghosian is testing the "If I fry it, they will buy it" theory?

This year our fair, for the first time, had a wine bar. Beer has been served at the fair for decades, but this was the first year for wine because we finally have some successful vineyards in our state. I guess 'Prohibition' really is over!

Just checked on the final figure for the attendance of the Stae Fair - final count is 1,681,678. Only 11 months and 20-odd days to wait for the next one : )