State Fairs

One thing I have enjoyed in our travels is visiting the local state and county fairs and festivals. The summer is filled with them, you need only choose one and go. They provide great entertainment on many levels, not the least of which is people watching.

We visited several this season, with an end-of-summer visit to the Utah State Fair this week. The weather was absolutely perfect and the fair was... well, once your city gets over a million people it gets hard to do the hometown-smalltown-fun thing authentically. Short synopsis: I'm not sure it was a fair as much as a marketing opportunity. But I guess that is what America really loves, a chance to sell stuff. The local college rivalry game isn't about college boys playing a game on the grass anymore, it's about grown-up men making serious grown-up money on college boys playing a game on the grass.

Parking was $6. Real small towns it's free. Admission was $10 a head, so just to walk in the door it's $26 for 2 people. We had been gifted tickets so we were only into it $6 for parking. Another $6 to ride the Ferris Wheel. You want food? Cha-ching. A coke? Cha-ching. Endless vendors lined the walk ways peddling wood signs, custom-fitted toe rings and blankets. How do people afford this? If you are going to take your kids to the fair you are going to need over $100. For the fair?

We headed over to the free exhibits, namely the livestock displays and the arts and crafts. One thing I do love about this part of the fair is the user participation. You can see all kinds of "art" and "crafts." For example, to the right is a shot I snapped of a lovely couple in their festive Hawaiian shirts admiring the beautiful butter sculptures. This art got funding.

Check out the guy on the left, he seemed super-excited to be in the picture with this award-winning cow. To each his own. I was just taking a picture and he jumped in. Glad to see excited people.

It's Utah, so if you want to win prizes and be a working artist there a few subjects you should pay attention to; children, tired cowboys, mountains, pioneers and horses. Mormon art also sells extremely well.

Here is one of my favorites from the fine art display.  I have my reasons for liking this, I should probably say what they are, but let me just say it has something to do with intent. I like art where everyone plays.

Fair food is it's own universe. I see people eating food at fairs that I don't see them eating day-to-day. Perhaps that is part of the allure of the fair, a chance to go wild with the deep-fat fryer!

Deep fried butter, funnel cakes, footlongs, corn dogs, twisted taters.

Fairs offer new learning activities for parents. The kids are excited and you want to put them in the pens with the pigs, what should you do? Luckily, there is a sign giving you guidance in that moment of confusion.

There is always time at the fair to stop and text your excitement to your friends who couldn't make it.

In the evening you can catch the Demolition Derby. Tickets are $20 so if you are taking the family you need another $100. There are musical acts too on the main stage. You'll need even more $$$ for those.






Fairs are great. It's nice to see a community come out and get together. I wish there were more times that belonged even more to the people. What I feel makes a community special is spirit. May our spirit always be free.