*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links (at no additional cost to you) I will earn a small commission. Click here for the full disclosure*
Despite having lived in New York State for the first 29 years of my life (excluding when I studied abroad and my internship in the Florida Keys), I had never visited the New York State Fair. Shameful, I know. However, I finally righted this great wrong in my life, and dragged my bestie along with me.
Practicalities
Petting the cute little calf.
Having been to the fairgrounds many times for other events, it’s very easy to find with signs on the highway indicating which exit to use and signs continuing to direct traffic in the right direction. There’s tons of reasonably priced parking ($12.41 in the fair’s lots) with shuttles from the farthest lots and designated handicap parking areas for those who need easier access to the event.
Regular admission for adults is $8, but there are several different days that offer reduced admission including student discounts, military discounts, and dollar days. I’d recommend checking the New York State Fair website for the most up to date information on admission pricing.
Visit All Your Barnyard Friends
We are the champions, We are the champions of the world ducks!
When we entered the fair through Gate 3 (there’s 12 gates), we headed right into the Tractor Supply Co. Exhibit Center to see the dairy cows. One of the highlights for us was petting a Guernsey calf that had just been born on August 8th. Once we had our fill of admiring these bovine beauties, we moved on to the Poultry Barn next door. There’s an amazing variety of chickens, ducks, pigeons, bunnies, and guinea pigs housed in this building. We were especially impressed by the individuals with ‘champion’ signs on their enclosures.
Petting the goats
During our wandering we also walked through the Goat, Llama, and Swine Barn as well as the Sheep Barn. Many folks were petting the goats despite the many signs warning fair-goers not to reach hands into enclosures as the animals might bite. Rebels.
As we walked we noticed some of the sheep were wearing jackets. At first we thought they were just more stylish than their fellows, but then we noticed signs explaining the coats. It seems they’d already been groomed preceding their turn to be shown in the many ongoing contests, and the coats prevented them from ruining their hairdo.
Belgian horses showing off
Unfortunately for us, we weren’t able to enter the Horse Barns as they were closed when we walked by. We did manage to catch part of the Belgian Horse show in the Toyota Coliseum, so we were still able to admire some of them.
Eating (and Drinking) All the Fair Food
One of the big draws of going to a fair is usually the food. While there’s a lot of unhealthy and expensive options, you can certainly find healthier options at many of the stands. We, however, did not do that. Our mission was to chase down all the unhealthy fried foods that we’d never tried before. It was an eating adventure of the deep fried variety!
Our first culinary delight was a deliciously deep-fried taco. You could argue that this isn’t very unusual since chimichangas are quite similar. However, this taco included the lettuce and tomato inside the tortilla in addition to the beef and cheese with salsa offered on the side. It was lightly fried so the tortilla maintained its chewiness while adding just enough crispiness to the outside. We really enjoyed it and I would definitely eat a deep-fried taco again.
It was a rather hot day when we visited, so to cool off and quench our thirst we got ourselves wine slushies from Thousand Islands Winery. They were giving out samples so we were able to try both the red Berry’s Bay Blaster and white Tropical Island Twist slushies which were both delicious. My bestie and I were torn between the two flavors since they were both so tasty. Luckily for us the bartender suggested we mix them so we got the best of both worlds!
Cheers to wine slushies!
Well if one wine slushy was good, two must be better! As we wandered the fair, we came across Coyote Moon Vineyard’s tent where they also had wine slushies available in lemonade or grape. Since it sounded so refreshing, we went for the lemonade to cool down. Cue the “Sweet Caroline” clip, ‘So good. So good. So good’.
Deep Fried Heaven
After walking around most of the fair, we found a stand that specialized in all things deep-fried. Perfect, this is what we’d been training looking for. Since we were sharing everything we ordered a couple of things to sample. As a ‘main’ we ordered the deep-fried chicken wing dip which comes with ranch for dipping, and as a ‘dessert’ we ordered “Reeseos” (a Reese’s cup sandwiched between two Double-Stuf Oreos then deep-fried). Fried chicken wing dip might sound strange since it’s a gooey dip, but it was delicious. It was a crispy ball filled with creamy, tangy, and a little bit spicy chicken wing dip. The Reeseos were a really rich and sweet dessert with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup topping them. I don’t think I could have eaten the whole order myself (there were two Reeseos), but a few bites shared between us was perfect.
The Fry Guy was our favorite guy.
I’m sure you won’t be surprised that we stopped for another wine slushy… I’d like to see you just try to resist while walking around the Taste NY Wine, Beer, & Spirits Village at the Collonade. There were so many New York State wineries giving out samples and selling wine slushies that we couldn’t turn them all down (that would just be rude). The third and final (honestly) wine slushy was from Merritt Estate Winery, a mix of their pomegranate XTC and Sangria that my bestie and I shared.
The last thing we ordered to eat was Chicken Riggies, which is a Utica, NY specialty of rigatoni pasta with chicken and peppers in a spicy tomato cream sauce. It wasn’t deep fried, but it felt wrong to be in the Syracuse area and not try it.
Milk Bar
White & Chocolate Milk from the Milk Bar
No visit to the New York State Fair would be complete without a stop at the Milk Bar in the Dairy Products Building for $.25 cups of milk, your choice of chocolate or white. There have been times over the years when it’s been argued that the price needs to be increased, but thus far tradition has kept it at $.25. For those who may be unaware, milk is the official drink of New York State as designated in 1981 since New York is a leader in dairy agriculture (it’s third in the US for milk production). The Milk Bar uses tokens, so we changed a dollar into tokens before approaching the workers behind the bar. Since we had four tokens, we got two cups of white milk and two cups of chocolate milk to share. Both varieties were refreshingly cold with the chocolate being deliciously rich.
2018 Butter Sculpture
While in the Dairy Products Building, we were able to admire the 2018 Butter Sculpture. Yes, you read that correctly: Butter Sculpture. As in a sculpture made out of that stuff you spread on toast in the morning. About 800 pounds of butter was carved into a dairy farmer delivering milk to a customer in a grocery store with the title “Your Milk Comes from a Good Place” over the front, and the back showed his farm with the title “Over the Moon Dairy Farm.” This year’s sculpture was the 50th and the farm title paid homage to the inaugural 1969 sculpture of a cow jumping over the moon.
I Love New York, You Love New York, We All Love New York
In the brand new Exposition Center, the New York Department of Economic Development had a huge interactive display for the I Love NY tourism campaign. We might have gone into the Exposition Center primarily knowing there was an Ice Rink, and therefore: air conditioning. However, we actually really enjoyed the I Love NY tourism exhibit. The Sand Sculpture returned for the 10th year and the 180 tons of sand was carved to feature the I Love NY logo front and center with many of the state’s biggest tourist attractions and activities surrounding.
2018 Sand Sculpture
There was a section for each of the four seasons experienced in New York State: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each section had selfie stations where you could push a button to start the timer, pose in the 3D interactive backdrop, and it would take three photos which would be emailed to you. We had fun playing with the backdrops and the email included both the individual pictures and a gif of all three put together into a hilarious slideshow. In addition to the individual sections for the seasons, there was also a big I Love NY photo backdrop and the I Love NY mobile tour trailer.
Winter in New York
New York State Travel Profile
On the trailer were kiosks where people can take a short nine question quiz to determine their travel profile with customized suggestions of destinations and attractions within New York State. My travel profile is History Hound Thrill Seeker which has an adorable avatar wearing a scholarly outfit of jacket, vest, and tie, but also wearing a helmet and kneepads while carrying a book and paddle. I thought this was a great idea to promote more attractions within the state and I happily accepted my I Love NY pin from the brand ambassadors overseeing the mobile tour trailer.
So Much to See at the New York State Fair
Throughout the 13 days of the fair each year there are numerous shows, competitions, and concerts for visitors to attend. I have a lot of friends and family who have gone to the fair specifically for the concerts, but I have never gone to one myself. There are also many options for games and rides in the Wade Shows Midway for that carnival atmosphere. During our visit we didn’t go on any rides or to any concerts as we wanted to spend our time seeing more of the fair itself. Maybe we’ll have to come back next year to hit up one of the concerts since there’s always a variety of bands and artists performing.
Overall we had a wonderful time exploring the fair. Normally I’m not a huge fan of fairs. I usually find them to just be expensive ways to spend time with a lot of other people. Neither of those things is usually my idea of a good time. The New York State Fair was a surprisingly fun way to spend a day with my bestie though, and I’m glad to have crossed it off the bucket list.
Share your favorite fair activities in the comments! Be sure to subscribe for new posts and updates.
Find Local Stays:
Over four years living here and we have yet to go. It’s been on our summer bucketlist but always gets missed. Next year for sure. Thanks for sharing what we’ve been missing. Bernie and Jess
I totally get it, I’ve lived in New York state my entire life and only just went to the state fair this summer for the first time! Definitely make a trip out to Syracuse for it next summer though, especially if you can time your visit with a concert you want to see. It’s such a great event!
Love this!! Never heard of a wine slushie!! Looks like so much fun!! I love fairs and I should try to go more!! Thanks for sharing this fun post! xoxo Michelle
Oh you have to try a wine slushy! They’re a delicious & refreshing treat in hot weather.
This looks so much fun! I’ve never been to a state fsir but imagine it’s similar to Summer fetes and food festivals in the UK. I would have definitely tries a wine slushy… or two!
Definitely get a few different wine slushies! There’s many different wineries offering many different flavors, how will you know which one is best if you don’t try them all? 😉
You’re right! I better try one of each to see which flavour is my favourite. 😉
Now we’re talking! 😂
This is a side of New York that I didn’t imagine existed. Sounds like an enjoyable day out. I can imagine my daughter trying to eat the butter sculpture, she loves it that much.
Most of the state is pretty rural farmland, but people always just think of New York City when New York is mentioned. Butter is pretty delicious, so I can relate, but it’s in a giant refrigerated case so I don’t think she’d be able to get to it. 😉
Sorry I’m generalising about New York. We get that all the time in Ireland too, that we are little bearded men who live on green farms. So I should know better.
I’d still doubt their abilities to keep my daughter away from the bitter
Or that everyone spends all their time in pubs drinking, fighting, and singing! haha There’re generalizations about everyone, everywhere, no worries! New York City is such a huge city in size and in culture that it’s somewhere most everyone in the world has at least heard of. It definitely casts a huge shadow across the rest of the state… Fun fact: It takes me nearly as long to drive to New York City from where I live as it would take you to drive the whole length of Ireland (North to South) 😉
The bit about the pubs is true. That isn’t a generalisation. Lol. I have to get my map out and study it more. Alas my American experience is limited to the four months I spent in Chicago in 2000. The furthest I got was Wisconsin 🤦🏻♂️
I haven’t been to a state fair in FOREVER but New York’s looks incredibly fun, especially since there are wind slushies. I have to say wine slushies are my favorite drink! Thanks for sharing, and for not trying to be healthy on your eating excursion. You can’t enjoy the fair without enjoying the fried food.
Wine slushies are seriously the best! 😍 We walked so much we might have worked off all of the million calories we consumed (plus the calories don’t count when you share with friends) 😉
Your post brings back so many memories of the Delaware State Fair for me! I loved strolling through the buildings where the animals were shown. All the foods you tried sounded delicious! You can never go wrong with fried goodness.
I’m so glad you liked it! We thoroughly enjoyed each and every calorie consumed at the fair! Soooo good!
I’ve never heard of chicken riggies (even though my last company sent me to Syracuse twice). Disappointed, because it sounds like my new BFF.
It’s delicious, and definitely something of a local secret! I live just a couple hours from Syracuse & only heard about it from friends in the area. If you get back, make sure to try it!
I always love reading about other peoples’ experience with the NYS Fair since I literally grew up single digit miles from the Fairgrounds. We lived so close we could hear the concerts from our house! I have been to the fair more times than I can count (we usually did a few dance shows there every summer) and while I’m not a big fan of fairs, the NYS Fair is definitely the best. 🙂
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I’ve been to various fairs over the years and not enjoyed a single one as much as I did the New York State Fair!
It is the same here in London, there are many places that I am yet to visit and I am a local lol.
I love NEW York and I can not wait to visit again. I would most definitely have to check out the state fair.
Jenna | xoxo
Isn’t funny how we travel all over to see new places, but don’t explore our own backyard? If you’re here during the last couple weeks of August, definitely check it out!