1. Fair food. Every other week of the year, we will tell our children to eat lightly steamed vegetables and fresh fruits, but during this week, we get to experience the joy and pain of fair food. From butter to bacon, fritters to funnel cake, and corn dogs to cotton candy, the fair is a gastronomic delight as is evident by Templeton in Charlotte’s Web. “The goose was right. The fair is a rat’s paradise. What eating! And what drinking!”
2. Carnival rides. With names like Bumbo the Flying Elephant and Tracey Junior’s Train Ride, the carnival is one of my kids’ favorite parts of the fair. For the price of a wrist bracelet they run through the fun house, climb to the top of the giant slide, and ride a roller coaster in the shape of a dragon.
3. Animals. Four days into our fair, the animals arrive filling the giant barns with the sound of sheep and goats, pigs and cows. You can wander through and look at the wiggly tails, pet the shorn sheep, and feel how very soft a cow’s nose really is. I can’t wait until my own two children are old enough to show animals at the fair.
4. Free Entertainment. While there are a lot of paid shows on the Grand Stands and Main Stages at the local fairs, some of the most fun entertainment will be free. Where else can you watch a hypnotist mesmerize, child dance troupes tap across the stage, and burgeoning artists rile up the crowd for the price of your fair admission?
5. Home Arts. Every year I enter jams, pickles, photographs, and whatever craft may fit a category. It’s fun to wander through the show rooms and view the displays, hoping for a ribbon or honorable mention.
Do you make time to go to your local fair?
