Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter

I had high expectations because I heard this fair was the bomb. I like the night view so we went at night. It was crowded and the weather was cool. Honestly, I was expecting something like what I see on Food Network. Maybe we just don’t have it in Georgia.
Size wise, compared to Gwinnett Fair, Georgia National Fair is triple the size. The food is the same, nothing spectacular. I just walked around because I was very, very underwhelmed. I traveled this far for just this?

Never been to the Perry Fair until tonight! Been to many fair’s but this was the biggest fairs I have ever been to in my life. Was pretty awesome!

Huge facility! Major horse show and dog show going on and still room to where you don’t even see the horses unless you look for them. Super clean facility with clean up crew everywhere.

Compared to some other state fairs, if you put this one in that league it doesn’t stack up so well. I found a few beautiful things in the arts and crafts building, but overall it was rather ho-​hum. I could make tracks fast as nothing much held my interest.
I you are flexible on when your going, it pays to go on an off day. Prices of entry and rides vary day by day. It all depends on whats happening, any day of the week.
SO if your into rides, certain days have unlimited rides with entry and you get an armband and ride all day.
Every 4 years when the Governor is up, they have a political debate which draws a big crowd. Each side buses in supporters and it can get unbearably loud. Bring ear plugs!!!
The best part of the whole fair I think is the entertainment offered. It all depends on what you like but go online and look over the website with who’s on day by day. Generally there are a few paid entry required performances, but then there are many oldies but goodies and other types you can enjoy for free! Everyday there are performances. SO… look it over and its quite possible you might find someone you would really like to see, and if your lucky it would be on a low price entry day! Yesterday I went, it was a Tuesday, Adult admission was $ 8. The Fifth Dimension performed followed by the Spinners. If you like oldies right there you got a deal for your eight bucks!
Food is pricey as it seems all fairs are. Turkey legs, $ 10 a leg!. However right after entry of the North Gate on left I found a place that had big home made brownies for $ 1 and a little paper bowl of grilled vegetables for $ 2. For those on a budget, or for a vegetarian trapped in a sea of junk food you cannot eat, that’s a real find!

I’ve been coming to this fair for years to compete in 4-​H competitions. I have loved it! My favorite part is seeing all the homemade crafts and things. I even got a few handkerchiefs for my dog ;) Oh, and the big honey place that is in the building with all the FFA exhibits, that is some good honey! Get 5 flavored honey sticks for $ 1, yum :)

We went to the fair Sunday with friends and had a great time! We took pictures with some very sweet seals, watched a pig race, ate greasy chili cheese fries, and rode the ferris wheel. The lines for rides were ridiculously long, so we wasted money on the armbands. We should’ve just purchased tickets for individual rides and saved our money. This was my first visit to the Georgia National Fair, and I had a wonderful time. :)

This place isn’t just all about the fair.
How about some buck a rama action or dog shows or Christmas mistletoe market. Yep there are a lot of different events that are held at this venue. There is usually something going on a monthly basis.
Sign up for email alert from the web page and you get a sense of everything going on. The one thing that I like about the fair is the live music and concerts. Plenty of big named acts have shows during the fair. Most of the music is country but they do have some pop groups to come through.
Oh yeah buck a rama is all that and a bag of tater chips. I won first place in the deer head judging. Yeah you heard right, deer head judging. The best part is that I didn’t even have to shoot the deer I brought in. It was struck by a car and a buddy of mine got it mounted. Where else are you going to buy deer pee and camo all under a tin roof.

Did you know? They have deep fried twinkies for $ 3!
At first, I thought it’d just be really disgusting gross and vomitness, but it’s actually really good! They crisp up the twinkie on the outside, so it give its a little bit of a crunch… then the inside is oozing, creamy, and melt in your mouth good. We saw only two stands located near the rides and they also offer fried oreos which I didn’t try. I wasn’t bold enough to do it.
They also have great BBQ stands with people smoking about 20 yards worth of stuff. I don’t usually get a chance to see stuff like that in Atlanta, so I thought it was pretty neat.
Our tickets were $ 8 (and they’re FREE for kids under 10 and FREE parking) and we stayed for about 1.5 hours. The rides can get a little bit pricey up to $ 10. Overall, I think it was worth it just for the food and fun. That game where you try to stand up the beer bottle isn’t as easy as it looks. Other than that, I’d give the state fair a FAIR chance. (The pun was intended. lol)

I might be a little biased since Perry is my hometown, but this is one of the best fairs around here. You have your carnival rides, which can be expensive if you buy your tickets at the fair. Kroger and some other stores around here sell discounted ride tickets prior to the fair starting up. If you know you are gonna go, I highly suggest going that route, otherwise wait until armband night. If the rides aren’t your thing, there’s plenty of other stuff to do and the concerts aren’t too bad either. The walkways are not only clean, but paved. The bathrooms are usually always clean. Awesome fireworks show at night. My only complaint is parking (mainly the crowd leaving after the fireworks show), but that is to be expected with a fair of this size.

Every state probably has a giant fair. Georgia’s happens to be in the center of the state (aka near the middle of nowhere). Good ol’ Perry, Georgia, home to Sonny Perdue and speed traps on the highway. Perry’s biggest claim to fame is perhaps the fairgrounds, a sprawling flat area that hosts a variety of events, the main one being the Georgia National Fair in October. Having never attended the rodeos and such, I’ll simply review the fair since I’ve gone a few times. I will say that the grounds are very well kept and are very large, handling crowds very well and giving one ample room to move around no matter the event.
The GNF is like your typical carnival; there are rides that make you wonder if the bolts are going to pop off and food that makes you question if you remembered to bring your insurance card along with you. It’s all in a good way, of course, but it’s not one of the better festivals I’ve been to. I found it a bit daunting to need tons of tickets to ride the rides, especially when a lot of the rides didn’t seem to be worth the amount I was handing over. It was fun to stick around until nightfall to see all the lights and I could see it being a great place for families to bring their kids, but for a single gal it was a little lackluster. Perhaps I was treated too well at other large fairs (Del Mar Fair in California comes to mind).
If you’ve never been and you’re residing in Georgia, it’d be fun to take a road trip and check it out. Perhaps it’d be more amazing with a larger group of friends? If you have kids, then definitely plan on making a trip out here for the fair. Kids have fun getting sticky from cotton candy and riding around in circles for hours!