New York State Fair

I went for the first time this year and was completely overwhelmed. It’s huge! We went the first weekend it was in town, later in the evening. When we asked around for a map, there didn’t seem to be any. This made it hard for us to really get the most out of it, because we had a hard time understanding how it was set up. Parking was also somewhat of a hassle, and we ended up losing our car for a while because we didn’t realize truly how big the orange lot is! All in all, there is a lot of neat stuff at the fair, but if you don’t come in with a plan, you will probably miss quite a bit. We will definitely be more prepared next year and look up a map before coming and establish a plan of attack, and I’m sure I’ll have a much more pleasant experience. To get the most out of the fair, know what you want to do, and know where to go!

What’s not to love about the NY State Fair?! I’ve visited for the past 3 years and each time it has gotten better. The musical acts that the fair drew in this year were big and the crowd-​pleasing booths and trucks of fried foods, International cuisine, and games are always a ht Lots of choices for food and drinks, as it’s always fun to walk around and basically gain 10 lbs all for the love of fair food and beer. I was finally able to watch a live cow birth and it was beautiful and exciting! The experience in the birthing center was definitely the highlight of my visit this year. We couldn’t hold baby chicks this go around because of the recent bird flu, but that wasn’t the Fair’s fault. We went on a Friday and it wasn’t as crowded as it probably got on the weekend, as it was Labor Day wknd. I always have a great experience going, and it’s got everything you’d want from a state fair for both children and adults.

This is the one event I look forward to every year. I have attended each year I have been alive and it never gets old. This fair blows away every other State Fair I have ever been to. There is so much to see and do, and you cant beat the cost of admission.
–Check out the special fair days such as «Dairy Day» or «Fire and Rescue Day».
–Discount tickets are available.
–Chevy court offers AWESOME free concerts twice daily. I have seen such acts for free as Lady Antebellum, Joe Nichols, and Plain White T’s.
–Must see’s are the Sand Sculpture which changes every year, as well as the butter sculpture.
— State Police Dog show is always entertaining.
FOOD: $ 1 Baked potato (Horticulture Building), Dinosaur BBQ (chevy court), Byrne Dairy soft black raspberry ice cream (Dairy Building), Cheese samples (Dairy Building), Fresh Chocolate Milk for o.25 cents (Dairy Building), Maple Sugar Slushies/​Snowcones/​Cotton Candy (Horticulture Building), Bakers Chicken Coup (Across from Colisseum).
— NYS Lottery Exhibit (extra prizes at fair)
and SO SO much more. It really can be more than you can even see in one day. So at LEAST go once a year!

What a great time we had at the State Fair! It was more than twice the size of our local county fair. My favorite parts of attending any fair is the food and the animals! I was very impressed with how clean all the animal barns were! There was barely any «barn smell» to any of the animal attractions. They had a nice big tent that had a group of animals you don’t usually see anywhere except maybe a zoo and certainly not this up close! They had Zebras, a Camel, Goats, a Long Horn Waatuse, Llamas, Sheep, Donkeys and Kangaroos!
They had a Mooternity Ward and had 4 cows give birth the day we were there. You were able to sign up for text alerts when each cows water broke so you could walk back to witness it. I thought we had missed all the births but right before we left the last ones water broke so we were able to see her give birth. It was my favorite part of the entire day!
There were plenty of vendors spread throughout the fair grounds and lots of clean bathrooms everywhere! Right before we left we decided to try a deep fried reeses peanut butter cup — it was yummy! Great day and we already said we will go again next year!

To a lifelong city girl like me, the New York State Fair is something out of Charlotte’s Web. I was so excited to check it out on my weekend trip to Syracuse. It features everything you’d imagine a fair to have: carnival rides, games, mechanical bull-​riding contests, equestrian competitions, dozens of cows and rabbits, and best of all, an endless amount of food vendors. There were also things I didn’t know even existed, like a butter sculpture!
By the end of your time at the fair, you might feel like Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me. Some of the foods we tried were fried pumpkin pie, fried brownies, wine slushies, and a deep-​fried Twix bar stuffed in a Twinkie, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with chocolate. Excuse me while I go do some sit-​ups. My friend got The Defibrillator Burger, a calorie powerhouse. My boyfriend and I got a caricature drawing from some extremely talented artists at their booth, which was the highlight of my night. On our way out, we got 25 cent cups of milk — perhaps the freshest cup of milk I’ve ever had. There was also impressive musical talent featured; the night I was there, the Steve Miller Band was playing, and I guess they’re a big deal because the crowd was enormous. They also had Luke Bryan and Nick Jonas, both of whom I would’ve loved to see!
Overall, the fair is a tasty journey that brought me back to my carefree childhood days and lived up to my expectations.

NYS Fair is the best. It’s the fair of your childhood. The fair of years past. That’s about to change over the next two years with Cuomos plans to invest 50 million into upgrades and structural improvements but I expect nothing but good times ahead for the Great New York State Fair.
We went to the fair two days in a row this year and shared a wholeeeee lotta food!!!
Blooming Onion
Pizza
Tully’s tenders
Beef sundae, from inside dairy building
Pork parfait, tikki turtle
Milk, rainbow milk bar
Mac and cheese poppers, tikki turtle
Salt potatoes, tikki turtle
Kettle corn
Poutine, Daniella’s
Loaded baked potato, Daniella’s
Gianelles sausage sandwich (sweet and hot)
Millennium chips (from booth in midway that offers the following toppings. Cheese, ranch, bacon, chili. Get them all!)
Soft served Ice cream
Deep fried chips ahoy cookies
Wine slushies, wine court
My craft beer, wine court
And more!
Wow I’m in a food coma just thinking about it. The best overall food, taste and experience was Daniella’s. The Poutine was amazing. Very crispy fries. Perfect gravy and real cheese curds. Another booth at the fair had poutine but didn’t have curds for the cheese so was so happy when we found Daniella’s. FYI– they have two booths and we went to the larger one. They also have a restaurant in syracuse you can try. I’ve never been but hear it’s very good.
Best creative dishes go to pork parfait and beef sundae. The mashed potatoes were better in the parfait from tikki turtle (located in wine court) but the overall dish was better with the beef and gravy.
Best traditional fair food and fried food goes to the bloomin onion. Get extra sauce. It’s worth the price! I don’t even like onions and this was just amazing. I’ll find out the name of the place and update the review later because the place we went had a longggg wait and others didn’t. For a reason!
Outside of food my number 2 reason to go to the fair is the music. You might be surprised to hear our favorite thing to do in sit in the wine court drinking wine slushies and/​or NY craft beer and listen to the daily live music in front of the tikki turtle. It’s a perfect escape from the miles of walking. It’s a best kept secret for sure. All local acts playing popular music. Loved it! And you can’t beat the free concerts in Chevy court!

If you want to see what New York is really like, this is a must. Sure, a cow might poop right in front of you or you might not be able to handle the smell of the animals, BUT its the closest you will ever be able to be with these animals — and how adorable are small piglets? The answer is super adorable. And if that doesn’t sound fun to you then you can go to the concerts, check out all the AMAZING food (fried oreos amiriteee??), play games, learn how to make soap, go on rides, build a bird house, go see the butter carving, and the list goes on and on. I am so sad that I am moving to California and will no longer be a New Yorker because this fair is one of my favorite things I did as a child and it is well worth it to see what life is like in New York outside of NYC. There is a reason I correct people when they automatically assume I’m from Manhattan and it’s because New York has so much more to offer than tall skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty. CHECK THIS OUT! Good for all ages.

The State Fair is one of my favorite annual traditions (because food).
The Fair is a panoply of eats (and not just deep fried regret). Though staples are in full supply, their are less traditional gems to be found (particularly in the International Food Pavillon and the Horticulture Building). Stephen’s Greek Cuisine is a great Gyro stop. The generous portion comes with hot-​off-​the-​skewer lamb, crispy veggies, and a tasty yogurt sauce. New this year, Strong Hearts Café brought a vegan twist to fair fare. Sarah and I enjoyed their vegan buffalo wings — tangy, flavorful, and just enough fried breading. And we washed it down with their Fair exclusive peanut butter cookie dough — so good!
Though the food is fantastic, the (living) animals are the real stars. Growing up a city kid, it’s fascinating to get a slice of farm life. It’s the openness of it all: you can go right up to pens/​cages and bet your fingers on a chance to pet some fluff. And bet I did: sheep, pigs, cows, horses, bunnies — I was like Noah, the Fairground was my arc, and I was high-​fiving animals from stern to bow. I love it.
There’s a wide variety of entertainment, with something likely to suit anyone’s tastes. I’m not into overly campy performances, so I tend to stick to the African and Indian Villages (ethnomusicology nerd, hiyo). Also, the Hawk Creek bird show is incredible, with killer birds of prey flying around (uncaged) just feet in front of you. In earlier years, I haven’t been into the bigger musical acts, but the booking has gotten much better (with at least a few artists who are riding the crest of the careers today, instead of a couple decades ago). Or maybe I’m just getting older…
No matter how old I get, The Great New York State Fair will always be my summer’s grand finale! An opportunity to connect with the agriculture that makes our country great, the food that makes our country fat, and that romantic mix of nostalgia and anticipation that gives you those me red, white, and blue-​blooded feels.

I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. So much to do see and have fun with. This place is a blast. Everything from shows to animals to rides to seeing what’s out there. I love coming here. Huge huge food selections, free concerts, and a wide section of things to purchase. I also enjoy coming here. If you have never come just come. It’s well worth the drive no mater where in NY you are.

A fun time with the family and is especially fun when they have awesome bands like Buckcherry for the chevy concert series!