The New York State Fair begins Wednesday, and while fairgoers will find their old favorites, there is always something new to experience.
The first thing fair officials showed off during the annual media preview on Tuesday was a new take on an old food: cream puffs, a pastry sandwiched between fresh whipped cream courtesy of New York farms. State Fair Director Julie LaFave gives them high marks.
“It was really good,” said LaFave. “So I thought I was just getting a bite of cream there, but look at all of that surprise underneath. All that pistachio crunch.”
This is LaFave’s second year heading up the yearly exposition, and one of the things she’s trying to do is make sure all parts of the 375-acre fairgrounds are being utilized. That starts with looking at a map of every square foot of the fair.
“Where has traffic slowed down for the past few years?” LaFave said. “And then we talk to our electricians, we talk to our plumbers, and we look at the traffic patterns and fire lanes. And if it checks all those boxes, then we put stuff there.”
For example, an empty grassy area in front of the administration building last year will be the home to the Mobile Museum of Tolerance. Program Director Lindsay Brill said it brings an important message in this day and age.
“We challenge our students, our visitors, to look at history and learn, take lessons from history in order to confront discrimination, anti-Semitism, bigotry, racism, just hate and discrimination in all its forms,” said Brill.
Fair officials are also trying to emphasize the State Fair’s roots, which started in 1841 as an agricultural exhibition. That means an overhaul of the Horticulture building to boost the visibility of products made in New York. State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball said the centerpiece of the Horticulture building will be a new Taste of New York booth.
“We have over 2,000 farms and small businesses that are part of Taste New York,” said Ball. “We've got over $100 million in sales since we started it. So this is becoming very popular with consumers and with our growers.”
And at that new booth is where you can buy some honeyberry jam, which is only made in New York.
“I would say it's kind of a cross between blueberry and elderberry. It's really nice,” said Christopher Ian, who manages the Taste New York booth.
One of the biggest attractions at the State Fair each year is the butter sculpture, where artists turn 800 pounds of New York butter into a work of art. This year's theme is "Dairy for Good: Nourish. Grow. Thrive.” It was inspired by the 125th anniversary of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” whose author, L. Frank Baum was born and raised in Chittenango in Madison County.
Last year’s attendance for the 13-day fair was just shy of 900,000. LaFave doesn’t rule out hitting the 1 million mark, but admits there are so many variables that you can’t really predict attendance, most notably the weather. And she adds, maybe that’s not the most important metric of a successful fair.
“If you have a really, really high attendance number, is it as enjoyable as it could be? So, the long answer and the short answer is we'd like to see a lot of people here, but we want them all to have a good time.”
The State Fair runs through Labor Day.
