Are there any good "state fairs" where I can see a good bit of American Culture?
You know the ones you see on tv shows that have like pig contests, and baking contests, etc.

There are still many good country fairs in Northern New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine), both county and state. Some of the smaller county fairs are just a small midway, a few animal pens, some tractor and horse pulls, and some type of 4-H baking and produce competitions. The state fairs typically include some top name entertainment, horse races, stunt cars, etc. in addition to the livestock events.

The North Carolina State Fair sounds exa ctly like what you are looking for. It is a load of fun and very "country" oriented. They even have pig races!

This year the fair runs from October 18 - 27.

Last year, just for fun, I made a batch of bread and butter pickles. I entered a jar in the pickle contest and won 3rd prize!!!!!!! What a kick!!

Dick

Actually, Dallas Texas has a great state fair, one of the largest ... and a great soccer team ... and hosted the World Cup once! And yes they have tons of baking contest, mmmm spam loaf, and they have animal contests and they have all kinds of great rides and a Midway if you like that kind of thing. A great state fair.

State and County Fairs are not for red necked, one tooth type of people. They have something for everyone. Any decent fair has the pig races, baking contests etc.

It may not be the best, but you sure can't be the setting at the San Diego County Fair. It used to be the Del Mar Fair and is held at the Del Mar Racetrack right next to the Pacific Ocean. It runs from mid June to the beginning of July.

In the midwest, I'd head to the Wisconsin State Fair. Much better than Illinois or Iowa. I believe they are all held in August.

Wisconsin state fair is currently under way. Went Friday with a bunch of friends and had, as usual, a great time. Tons of stuff to see and some fairly decent music. I even got talked into riding the "Ejection Seat". Its not as scarry as it looks.
I love watching the hawkers selling Ginsu knives, miracle mops, super chamois and all the high priced junk you don't need.

I agree that the NC State Fair is good . . . BUT I have to say that the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, NC is even better! It's smaller than the State Fair, but IMO, it's laid out better and is nicer. This year it runs from Oct. 4-13.

The Ohio State Fair is one of the best and it's going on now and county fairs are the best.

You betcha. The Texas State Fair held in Dallas for three weeks, starting end of September thru mid October. It's CLASSIC old-fashioned Americana --- you've got the midway with games & rides; you've got the food pavillion with baking contests, the quilting contests, the animals --- it's all there. Off top of my head, don't recall the website, it's something like TexFair or so ...

If you want to know about fairs, festivals and local culture around the world, go to this site, http://www.festivals.com

ttt

By far the best State Fair is in Saint Paul, Minnesota, second only to Texas in size.

The National Peanut Festival in Dothan, Alabama has gotten so popular it runs for over 2 weeks now.

Another vote for the Texas State Fair in Dallas' Fair Park. Not only is it a great state fair, one of the largest in the country, but the great Art Deco architecture of the buildings in Fair Park is worth the trip alone; and that's comming from a New Yorker.

The California State Fair starts tomorrow and runs through Labor Day. I've been every year and there are lots of things for a non-redneck to do at the fair. The wine pavilion offers you the opportunity to tastet the award winning wines of CA all in one stop. This is a great way to compare wines.

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For this year, Tx State Fair is on from Sept-27 thru Oct-20 --- fyi, it gets crowded & crazy during the weekend of the Tx -- OU football game.
http://www.bigtex.com/

From people I work with the Penn. state fair sounds like a big deal. People campout all week outside the fair grounds.

For those planning to come to the Texas State Fair - "Lion King" will be playing at the State Fair Music Hall.
Don't miss eating the roasted corn, turkey legs, funnel cakes you buy on the midway.

My 70+ parents were raised on farms. Recently they went to the fair and wandered throughout all the exhibits. This sweet young thing tried cajoled my dad into "milking a cow" (I think it was an exhibit, not a real cow.) She couldn't understand why he refused and didn't want to wear a button that stated "I milked a cow!" He response was "I milked too many &$#(@ cows too many mornings for too many years to do it now!"

Wasn't lovely for your father to explain in a nice way to a lovely young thing that he was not interested in milkong a cow. If ever amoment was ripe for a sense of humor this was one. It's not that life is so short, it's that death is forever.