State Fairs were canceled in 2020, and last year many saw scaled back events, but this year, fairs across the Midwest and Plains states are hoping to put up pre-pandemic attendance numbers.
“There’s a lot of buzz about just starting to feel normal again,” said Rebecca Clark, manager of the Illinois State Fair. “It’s been a really long two years, especially for fairs.”
The Kansas State Fair will be in Hutchinson from Sept. 9-18.
While COVID-19 variants continue to pop up and cause some concern for public health, for the most part the coronavirus is at a low enough risk level for large outdoor events to carry on as they did in 2019.
The Iowa State Fair is reinstating it’s “Farm to Fair” dinner. It’s a farm to table concept, where 400 fair goers can eat a meal made up of meat, vegetables and other dishes produced in Iowa. And they get to sit with the producers who made it possible.
“We did not do that last year, because it does put people in close proximity to each other while eating the dinner, so we just didn’t do that,” said Gary Slater, CEO and director of the Iowa State Fair. “We’re really excited to have that back.”
While COVID concerns are reduced, state fair directors can’t relax, just yet. High inflation is affecting everything from the price of corn dogs and funnel cakes to the gas it takes to get to the fair. That has directors, including Rebecca Clark in Illinois, concerned about how it could affect attendance.
“We’ve been proactive in looking for ways to make the fair affordable. So we have several days, Monday through Thursday, where adult admission is half-priced,” Clark said.
