A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs. State fairs began in the nineteenth century for the purpose of promoting state

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, through competitive exhibitions of

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and display of

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

products. As the U.S. evolved from a predominantly agrarian to an industrial society in the twentieth century, and the more service economy of the 21st century, modern state fairs have expanded to include

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

amusement rides and games, display of industrial products, automobile racing, and entertainment such as musical concerts. Large fairs can admit more than a million visitors over the course of a week or two. The oldest state fair is that of The Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair, established in 1738, and is the oldest fair in Virginia and the United States. The first U.S. state fair was the New York, held in 1841 in Syracuse, and has been held annually since. The second state fair was in

Detroit, Michigan 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 ...

, which ran from 1849 to 2009. The fair was revived in 2013 and has been held at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan ever since. Events similar to state fairs are also held annually in each state capital in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, known as royal shows. Australian royal shows are organized by state agricultural and horticultural societies, and are described further in the

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

article.

List of state fairs

United States

;Notes

State fair police departments

Several state fairs maintain their own police departments, including: * California Exposition and State Fair Police * Iowa State Fair Police * Minnesota State Fair Police Department * Wisconsin State Fair Park Police Department

Provincial exhibitions in Canada

A few annual exhibitions in the summer in Canada are similar to state fairs in the United States:

Awards

State and county fairs are famous for a variety of competitions that award ''ribbons''. Awards are generally given according to the following scale: * First place – blue ribbon * Second place – red ribbon * Third place – white ribbon * Fourth place – yellow ribbon * Fifth place – green ribbon * Sixth place – orange ribbon *Seventh place – purple ribbon *Eighth place – brown ribbon

Attendance

As of 2019, the largest attendance at a state fair in the US is in Texas with the fair having attracted 2,514,637 visitors. Even though it is longer than an average state fair, any advantage is negated by the size of the physical state since those days would be required for the states citizens to have equal opportunity to attend. The largest average per day attendance is at the Minnesota State Fair averaging just under 200,000 people per day.

References

{{Authority control Culture of the United States Culture of Canada Annual fairs Annual events in the United States