Michigan State Fairgrounds
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The Michigan State Fair is an annual event originally held from 1849 to 2009 in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, the state's largest city. In 2009 the governor declined to fund it because of other priorities. Because agriculture still has a major place in the Michigan economy, in 2011 supporters organized the Great Lakes Agricultural Fair, a 501 C (3) organization, in order to continue the event. Since 2013 it has been organized by the private Michigan State Fair LLC and held in the Suburban Collection Showplace in the
Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...
suburb of Novi.


History

The first official Michigan State Fair was held in 1849 in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. The first state fair had been held on October 1, 1839 in
Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
. It was moved to Detroit in 1849. Subsequent Michigan state fairs were held in other cities until 1905, when it received what was its permanent home for decades at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. In 1904, Joseph L. Hudson, together with three of his associates, organized to acquire a site for the fair. They formed the State Fair Land Company, which acquired between 7½ and 8 Mile roads, east of
Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...
. Having no interest in running the fair, Hudson sold the land to the Michigan State Agricultural Society for one dollar on April 18, 1905. The Agricultural Society accepted the land and purchased an additional , extending the fairgrounds to . Throughout the following years, additional land was purchased and sold. The present size of the fairgrounds in Detroit is .
Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum (also Hockeytown State Fair Coliseum) was a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena in Detroit, Michigan. The coliseum, built in 1922, was part of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds until its demolition in early 202 ...
, also known as the Hockeytown State Fair Coliseum, was a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena located on the fairgrounds. In 1899 a one-mile track was constructed at the fairgrounds and originally used for Thoroughbred flat racing and Standardbred harness racing. In the mid-20th century, two
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
races were held on this track. Tommy Thompson won the 1951 event and
Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. His brothers Bob and Fonty Flock also raced in NASCAR, as did his sister Ethel Mobley, NASCAR's second female d ...
won in
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
. On October 30, 2009,
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician who was the 16th United States secretary of energy from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously served as the 47t ...
vetoed legislation to provide funding to the Michigan State Fair. Attendance had peaked at 1.2 million in 1966. In 2009 fair attendance had declined to 217,000 visitors. The state fair was not held in the following two years. On April 9, 2012, Governor
Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, ...
signed Senate Bill 515 and House Bill 4803, which would authorize the transfer of the fairgrounds land to the Land Bank Fast Track Authority, which would oversee the land for future development, including plans for a station for the proposed
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
service. As the agricultural industry is Michigan's second leading economic industry, many people were disturbed by the failure of the state to support a state fair. They organized Great Lakes Agricultural Fair, a 501 C (3) organization, in 2011 to ensure such events continued. The ''Great Lakes State Fair'' took place August 31 through September 3, 2012, at the Suburban Collection Showplace in the Detroit suburb of Novi. In 2013,
Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the parent company of Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), which operates 1,100 branches and 2,400 automated teller machines, which are located in 11 states: Oh ...
became the name sponsor, so the event was called the ''Fifth Third Bank Michigan State Fair'', again held in Novi at the Suburban Collection Showplace. Organizing the fair was taken over by Michigan State Fair LLC. Seven years later, a virtual fair was held as live shows and other events were canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Incidents

On August 31, 2024, a teenager was killed, and a second was injured, when shot in a parking lot outside the fair. Police say the attack is related to an argument that had been occurring during the week.


See also

*
Upper Peninsula State Fair The Upper Peninsula State Fair (UP State Fair) is a fair held annually in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It is held in Escanaba in mid-August of each year. Prior to 2010, it was one of two official state fairs in Michigan. In ...
*
Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum (also Hockeytown State Fair Coliseum) was a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena in Detroit, Michigan. The coliseum, built in 1922, was part of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds until its demolition in early 202 ...
*
Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway The Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway was a dirt oval racing track located in Detroit, Michigan. The track was built in 1899 for horse racing, and it was part of the ground purchased to provide a permanent venue for the Michigan State Fair. Jo ...
*
Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building, and Agricultural Building The Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building, and Agricultural Building are three buildings located on the grounds of the Michigan State Fair in Detroit, Michigan. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1 ...


References


Further reading

* Sonoras, Steven.
Michigan State Fair combines new and traditional

Archive
. ''
The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...
''. September 3, 2015.


External links


Michigan State Fair LLC official site
{{Authority control History of Detroit State fairs Festivals in Detroit NASCAR tracks Festivals disestablished in 2009 Festivals established in 1849 1849 establishments in Michigan