State fair

A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs.

State fairs began in the nineteenth century for the purpose of promoting state agriculture, through competitive exhibitions of livestock and display of farm products. As the U.S. evolved from a predominantly agrarian to an industrial society in the twentieth century, and the more service economy of the 21st century, modern state fairs have expanded to include carnival amusement rides and games, display of industrial products, automobile racing, and entertainment such as musical concerts. Large fairs can admit more than a million visitors over the course of a week or two. The oldest state fair is that of The Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair, established in 1738, and is the oldest fair in Virginia and the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first U.S. state fair was the New York, held in 1841 in Syracuse, and has been held annually since.<ref name=su>Template:Cite web</ref> The second state fair was in Detroit, Michigan, which ran from 1849<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to 2009.<ref name="freep.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="It's official: State Fair a goner">Template:Cite web</ref> The fair was revived in 2013 and has been held at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan ever since.

Events similar to state fairs are also held annually in each state capital in Australia, known as royal shows. Australian royal shows are organized by state agricultural and horticultural societies, and are described further in the agricultural show article.

List of state fairs

United States

File:Tanana Valley State Fair midway.jpg

The 2009 Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, Alaska

State or Region	Fair Name	Location	Typical Month(s)	Attendance (year)	Attendance as % of State Pop.
!a	!a	!a		-9999
!a	!a	!a		10000000000
Alabama	Alabama State Fair	Birmingham
Alabama	Alabama State Fair Montgomery	Montgomery
Alabama	Alabama National Fair	Montgomery
Alaska	Kenai Peninsula Fair	Ninilchik		7,300 (2013) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.99%
Alaska	Southeast Alaska State Fair	Haines
Alaska	Tanana Valley State Fair	Fairbanks		92,000 (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> \|	12.49%
Alaska	Alaska State Fair	Palmer		299,698 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	40.68%
Arizona	Arizona State Fair	Phoenix		1,102,044 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	16.37%
Arizona	Navajo Nation Fair	Window Rock		100,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	57.58% (of Navajo Nation)
Arkansas	Arkansas State Fair	Little Rock		473,106 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	15.95%
California	California State Fair	Sacramento		673,237 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.7%
Colorado	Colorado State Fair	Pueblo		466,576 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	8.71%
Delaware	Delaware State Fair	Harrington		262,587 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	28.07%
District of Columbia	DC State Fair	Washington
Florida	Florida State Fair	Tampa		395,435 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.99%
Georgia	Georgia State Fair	Hampton
Georgia	Georgia National Fair	Perry, Georgia		535,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	5.30%
Georgia	North Georgia State Fair	Marietta		320,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3.17%
Hawaii	Hawaii 50th State Fair	Aiea
Idaho	Eastern Idaho State Fair	Blackfoot		249,892 (2021) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	14.08%
Idaho	Western Idaho Fair	Boise	August	243,474 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	14.90%
Idaho	North Idaho Fair <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Coeur d'Alene		168,567 (2022) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	5.18%
Illinois	DuQuoin State Fair	Du Quoin
Illinois	Illinois State Fair	Springfield		509,000 (2019) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4.00%
Indiana	Indiana State Fair	Indianapolis		730,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	11.07%
Iowa	Iowa State Fair	Des Moines		1,130,260 (2018) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	35.93%
Kansas	Kansas State Fair	Hutchinson		359,808 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	12.39%
Kentucky	Kentucky State Fair	Louisville	August	609,955 (2017) <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	13.7%
Louisiana	Cajun Heartland State Fair	Lafayette
Louisiana	Greater Baton Rouge State Fair	Baton Rouge
Louisiana	State Fair of Louisiana	Shreveport		379,700 (2017) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9.78%
Maine	Bangor State Fair	Bangor
Maine	Skowhegan State Fair	Skowhegan
Maine	Fryeburg Fair	Fryeburg		166,838 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	12.54%
Maryland	Maryland State Fair	Timonium		588,000 (2013) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9.53%
Michigan	Michigan State Fair	Novi		92,000 (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.93%
Michigan	Upper Peninsula State Fair	Escanaba		80,000 (2013) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.81%
Minnesota	Minnesota State Fair	Falcon Heights		2,126,551 (2019) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	37.90%
Mississippi	Mississippi State Fair	Jackson		733,151 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	24.49%
Missouri	Missouri State Fair	Sedalia	August	349,048 (2023)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Montana	Montana State Fair	Great Falls		54,938 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	5.37%
Montana	MontanaFair	Billings, Montana		226,333 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	22.10%
Nebraska	Nebraska State Fair	Grand Island		379,108 (2017)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	19.88%
Nevada	Nevada State Fair	Reno		Closed
Nevada	The Nevada Fair	Carson City, Nevada		22,000 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.77%
New EnglandTemplate:Efn	The Big E	West Springfield, Massachusetts		1,629,527 (2019) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10.97%Template:Efn
New Hampshire	Hopkinton State Fair	Contoocook
New Jersey	New Jersey State Fair	Augusta		420,000 (2013) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4.70%
New Mexico	New Mexico State Fair	Albuquerque		497,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	23.83%
New Mexico	Southern New Mexico State Fair	Las Cruces
New Mexico	Northern Navajo Nation Fair	Shiprock
New York	Great New York State Fair	Syracuse		1,329,275 (2019) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	6.8%
North Carolina	North Carolina State Fair	Raleigh	October-November	1,028,364 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10.34%
North Carolina	Dixie Classic Fair	Winston-Salem		357,416 (2011)	3.7%
North Carolina	North Carolina Mountain State Fair	Fletcher		187,819 (2007) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.89%
North Dakota	North Dakota State Fair	Minot	July	293,123 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	39.64%
Ohio	Ohio State Fair	Columbus		921,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	7.95%
Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Fair	Oklahoma City		900,000 (2012) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	23.21%
Oklahoma	Tulsa State Fair	Tulsa		1,206,000 (2016 estimate) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	31.10%
Oregon	Oregon State Fair	Salem		295,000 (2016 estimate) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	7.43%
Pennsylvania	Allentown Fair	Allentown		500,000 (approx) (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3.91%
Pennsylvania	Butler Fair	Prospect		240,000 (approx) (2011) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.88%
Pennsylvania	Bloomsburg Fair	Bloomsburg		364,037 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2.85%
Pennsylvania	The Reading Fair	Reading		40,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	0.3%
Pennsylvania	York State Fair	York		555,252 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4.34%
Rhode Island	Washington County Fair	Richmond		around 100,000 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9.48%
South Carolina	South Carolina State Fair	Columbia		464,878 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9.62%
South Dakota	South Dakota State Fair	Huron		211,371 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	24.77%
Tennessee	Tennessee State Fair	Lebanon	August	115,000 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.76%
Tennessee	Delta Fair	Memphis		about 200,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3.05%
Tennessee	Tennessee Valley Fair	Knoxville		180,000 (approx) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2.75%
Texas	South Texas State Fair	Beaumont		175,000 (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.65%
Texas	State Fair of Texas	Dallas		2,547,289 (2022) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	7.24%
Texas	East Texas State Fair<ref>Waterson, James and Seymour, Rachel Anne. Pulling Up Stakes: East Texas State Fair Says Goodbye Until Next Year. Tyler Morning Telegraph, October 4th, 2010, p. 1A, 6A</ref>	Tyler		about 250,000 (estimate from 2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.93%
Texas	North Texas State Fair	Denton		200,000 (estimate from 2023) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	.68%
Utah	Utah State Fair	Salt Lake City		around 300,000 (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	10.19%
Vermont	Vermont State Fair	Rutland		40,000Template:Dash50,000 (2022) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9.83%
Virginia	State Fair of Virginia	Caroline County		238,000 (2014) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2.86%
Washington	Central Washington State Fair	Yakima		312,191 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4.42%
Washington	Evergreen State Fair	Monroe		342,631 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4.85%
Washington	Northwest Washington Fair	Lynden		189,154 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2.68%
Washington	Washington State Fair	Puyallup		1,117,323 (2012) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	15.82%
West Virginia	State Fair of West Virginia	Fairlea		155,000-160,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	8.65%
Wisconsin	Wisconsin State Fair	West Allis	August	1,015,815 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	17.64%
Wisconsin	Central Wisconsin State Fair	Marshfield		85,000 (2015) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.48%
Wisconsin	Northern Wisconsin State Fair	Chippewa Falls		90,000 (2016) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1.56%
Wyoming	Wyoming State Fair	Douglas

Notes

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State fair police departments

Several state fairs maintain their own police departments, including:

Provincial exhibitions in Canada

A few annual exhibitions in the summer in Canada are similar to state fairs in the United States:

Province	Fair Name	Location	Attendance (year)
!a	!a	!a	-9999
!a	!a	!a	10000000000
Alberta	Calgary Stampede	Calgary	1,275,465 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Alberta	K-Days	Edmonton	702,327 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
British Columbia	Pacific National Exhibition	Vancouver	731,708 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ontario	Canadian National Exhibition	Toronto	1,500,000 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ontario	Ottawa SuperEX (defunct)	Ottawa	422,095 (2009)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ontario	Royal Agricultural Winter Fair	Toronto	300,000 (average per annum)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ontario	Western Fair	London	170,000 (2015)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Manitoba	Red River Exhibition	Winnipeg	203,624 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Manitoba	Royal Manitoba Winter Fair	Brandon	110,000 (2018)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Saskatchewan	Canadian Western Agribition	Regina	121,326 (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards

State and county fairs are famous for a variety of competitions that award ribbons. Awards are generally given according to the following scale:Template:Citation needed<ref name="It's official: State Fair a goner" />

First place – blue ribbon
Second place – red ribbon
Third place – white ribbon
Fourth place – yellow ribbon
Fifth place – green ribbon
Sixth place – orange ribbon
Seventh place – purple ribbon
Eighth place – brown ribbon

Attendance

As of 2019, the largest attendance at a state fair in the US is in Texas with the fair having attracted 2,514,637 visitors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Even though it is longer than an average state fair, any advantage is negated by the size of the physical state since those days would be required for the states citizens to have equal opportunity to attend.

The largest average per day attendance is at the Minnesota State Fair averaging just under 200,000 people per day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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