Erie County Fair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Erie County Fair | |
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| Location(s) | Buffalo, New York |
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| Years active | 190 |
| Date(s) | August 12-23, 2009 |
| Genre | fall fair |
| Website | Erie County Fair |
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009) |
The Erie County Fair and Exposition, also known as "America's Fair", is a fair held in Hamburg in Erie County, New York every August. It is the second largest fair in New York topped only by Great New York State Fair which is 110 acres (0.45 km2) larger, and the third largest county fair in the United States, often drawing over one million in attendance.
The first Erie County Fair was held in 1819, and was hosted by the Erie County Agricultural Society. The fair is currently the second longest operating fair in the United States.
The modern hamburger was invented at the Erie County Fair, as its location (Hamburg), solves the riddle as to why there is no ham in hamburgers[citation needed]. However, this is disputed as a number of other claims have also been made as to the origin of the hamburger.
The 2009 Fair will run August 12-23, 2009.
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[edit] History
The Agricultural Society was established in 1819, then called the Niagara County Horticultural Society. It held its first fair in 1820 on what is now the site of the Donovan Office Building in Buffalo. One year later, Niagara County split into Erie and Niagara Counties, and so did the agricultural society. The Erie County Agricultural Society is the oldest civic, community member organization in Erie County.
After the 1821 Fair, the Society foundered due to the poor economy in the area and the difficulty of transporting livestock over nearly impassable roads. The Society was reborn in 1841 and again started holding its annual Fair. The Erie County Fair has been held every year since 1841 with the exception of 1943, which was canceled because of World War II.
After many years of being held in Buffalo in and around Lafayette Square,[1] the Fair was moved throughout different locations in Aurora, Lancaster, East Hamburg, (now Orchard Park), West Seneca, and Springville from 1851-1867. In 1868, the Society moved the Fair to its Hamburg location and has remained there ever-since.
The current location started as a 12-acre (49,000 m2) plot of land but over the years the site has grown to encompass a full 265 acres (1.07 km2). The length of the fair has also risen by a starting out as just a one day event which now has a half day preview night and 10 full days.[2] The last day of the fair features a demolition derby produced by JM Productions. The most recent expansion came in 2004 when the midway was pushed back to allow a few more rides and to move Strates Shows mobile homes behind the midway.
In 2001 the Agricultural Society published the book Reflections of Americas's County Fair 1841-2000 covering the complete history of the fair including photos, interviews and information regarding the fair from its roots all the way to the year 2000.
While most fair workers at the fair are employed by the fair or vendors there is a group of dedicated volunteers who in 1988 started The Friends of the Fair Volunteer Program act as greeters, building staff (such as greeters and people who count how many people enter a building), and man information booths.
Starting in 2005 the fair started a re-branding effort to drop the words Erie County from the official name, and the fair was known as America's Fair. This was done at the request of The County of Erie, as the fair receives no public money from the county. In early 2009, America's Fair changed back to its original name, the Erie County Fair.
[edit] Themes
Recent editions of the fair have followed a theme starting in the mid 90s to current
2009- Summer Love a Fair
2008- Summer Fun Headquarters-America's Fair
2007- Keeping The Dream Alive
2006- The magic continues
2005- Fairy Tales Can Come True
2004- Theres A Party Goin' On
2003- A Slice of America
2002- Celebrate The Spirit of America
2001- It's Showtime
2000- It's A Musical Af-Fair- This theme also had an advertising jingle—It's a musical affair, The summer's greatest happening is finally here. Fun and excitement for all to share, the feeling is magic, Erie County Fair.
1999- Miles of Smiles
1998- It's Out Of This World
1997- Makin' Tracks at the Fair
1996- We're Outstanding in Our Field
1995- There's Magic at the Fair
[edit] Annual days for free or reduced price admission
- This year kids 12 & under are FREE
- Firefighters' Day- Firefightrs receive free admission all day with proper id. There are tents set up on the horsetrack infield for each fire company to get together meet and have a cookout, there is also a free parade which the firefighters can walk in.
- Veterans' Day- All veterans and current servicemembers with valid id get in free. The tents are set up on the horsetrack infield for each different posts of the American Legion and VFW to have members meet and have a cookout. A free parade featuring members marching is also held.
[edit] Some fair facts
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2009) |
The front of the fair having 2 wrought iron gates facing South Park Ave.
The fair has onsite parking for about 15,000 cars.
The fair is third largest county fair in the USA with an average attendance hovering around 1 million people.
86 permanent structures including a casino and horse racing track aptly named "Fairgrounds Gaming and Raceway".
The James E. Strates Shows, America's only railroad carnival, has provided rides for the midway since 1924.
The only time in the history of the fair where the event was not held was 1943 during World War II due to rationing of supplies for the war effort.
The oldest buildings on grounds is the Octogon building which was originally built in 1885.
In 1994 the fair attempted to go for the world record of the World's Largest Country Line Dance, getting around 2700 dancers.
The Fair owns the only original San Francisco Cable Car operating outside those city limits.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Eberle, Scott and Joseph A. Grande (1987). A Pictorial History of Buffalo and Erie County (1013 of 2000 ed.). The Donning Company. p. 33. ISBN 0-89865-609-5.
- ^ http://www.americas-fair.com/about_the_fair.php Much to the history section came from or is referenced in this webpage
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