Well, I’m going to start by stating the obvious: This year’s fair was hot, Hot HOT! We were lucky enough to get zero rain for the 12 day run but my oh my, Mother Nature dealt us some difficult conditions, especially for the second half of the Fair. I kept checking my weather app for the “Feels Like” temperature and it said anywhere from 88 to 98 degrees… Not my style! Let’s just say the Ice Bar was one of my closest friends.
Some of the Positives (for me):
- The Ice Bar – 20 degrees never felt so good!
- Volunteers in the Red Cross Parking Lot – what a great group of people!
- The talented (mostly local) Caricature artists – such amazing work! (if you go into it open-minded)
- Wade Shows Midway – well run with friendly, clean and not overly obnoxious workers
- The Sand Sculpture in the Center of Progress Building (with the exception perhaps the one side with the mugs of some politicians) but I digress…
- The number of local musical talent featured at several food stands and smaller stages spread throughout the Fair (always LOVE Tiger at Whelans)
- The Food Truck sampling near Chevy Court
- SHUKKERS!
- The well organized Centro air-conditioned shuttles
- The number of locations offering $1 bottles of water
- All the law enforcement officers, ticket takers, food workers, stage hands, sanitation personnel and anyone else who worked the Fair tirelessly through those smoldering days
And alas, some Negatives:
- The Bathrooms! Women’s bathrooms in particular. Dirty, dirty, dirty. Many without attendants, or the attendants were outside smoking and on their cell phone. Most facilities had no paper towels and the dish soap was a bag with a spout on the sink counter that looked like an IV bag or something worse… Floors were filthy, stalls were filthy. I have not seen it this bad in many years.
- The BLARING repetitive music at the Pizza Fritte booth near the New York Lottery, aka “Grand Central Station” at the busiest four corners of the Fair. Not only is the music way too LOUD, the speakers are AWFUL. The tweeter is blown out and it’s the most obnoxious spot at the Fair. I spoke with several nearby vendors who said they were near the breaking point putting up with the 9-10 song rotation that plays throughout the 12 day run. I refused to buy from them this year because I was so annoyed!
- This is nothing new but the lack of shade on the benches of Chevy Court, where the best musical acts were featured this year. I hope something to provide cover for the audience is in the renovation plans for next year.
- The lack of Grandstand Acts. Besides the lost opportunity for fairgoers to enjoy big name concerts, the vendors on the “Road to the Grandstand” suffered terribly with regards to business. I talked with several folks who could not make the rent on several days due to lack of people traffic.
- The overflowing trash cans. Never have I seen so many trash barrels heaping with smelly fair garbage at ALL times during the day. I understand as the day draws to a close they may be left for closing time but this year it was awful.
- The general presentation in the Center of Progress building. I used to love going through this building looking for a demonstration of the latest as-seen-on-tv product, or checking out the wares of vendors in hopes of finding holiday presents, or sampling some unique snacks. Now it seems to be generic with many NYS Departments offering information on things I personally don’t want to think about at the Fair (unemployment, unions, political agendas, etc.) There seems to be no real “theme”. It was a confusing mess to put it bluntly.
But overall, I LOVED the Fair! Always room for improvement of course. I was leery at first, however the more I learn about the renovation plans for the Fairgrounds, the more I’m in favor of a change. And that’s not an easy thing for me to say…
#nysfair #shukkyeah #shukkers #horans
