Photo Courtesy Syracuse.com
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Event Expands After Great Response from Fairgoers
Registration Underway for Participating Food Truck Operators
The Great New York State Fair today announced that its Taste NY Food Truck Competition will expand to two days for the 2017 Fair. The competition to find the best entrée, served by food truck chefs and made with New York State grown and produced ingredients, will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 2 and 3. Food trucks entered in the competition will be located around Chevy Court.
State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “Taste NY represents the very best of New York agriculture and having our food truck chefs cook up exciting, new dishes for our panel of judges and for fairgoers is a great way to promote New York grown and produced foods. With the competition expanded to two days, we look forward to seeing every region of New York State represented.”
Registration is now underway for food truck operators who would like to take part in the competition.
Visit http://nysfair.ny.gov/competitions/food-truck-competition/ for details and an entry form.
In 2016, Silo Food Truck of Ovid won the Judges’ Choice award for its Telekinetic Fried Chicken, a fried drumstick over a slaw flavored with peach and raspberry and purple sticky rice, while The Meatball Cup from The Meatball Truck of Rochester won the People’s Choice. More than 2,500 fairgoers voted in the competition.
Katie Foley, co-owner of Silo Food Truck, said, “It was quite an honor both to participate as well as win the Judges’ Choice for the Taste NY 2016 Food Truck Competition. It was a crazy, fun-filled day that flew by. We sold about 1,200 samples to very enthusiastic patrons, making it well worth our while. We are looking forward to the two-day competition this coming year and are already working on our new submission. Being recognized at the state level has given us more opportunity locally and has helped us expand into larger festivals across the East Coast. It’s been quite the feather in our cap.”
Michelle Yancey of The Meatball Truck said, “The Meatball Truck was honored to compete in the second annual Food Truck Competition at the New York State Fair and bring home first place in the People’s Choice competition. We are looking forward to defending our title in 2017. It’s always great to be among the enthusiasm of the crowd and long-standing traditions of the New York State Fair.”
The two sponsors of this annual event are Maines Food and Party Warehouse and Taste NY, Governor Cuomo’s initiative that promotes New York food and beverage products.
Taste NY was launched in 2013 to promote New York’s food and beverage industries. It is overseen by the Department of Agriculture and Markets and has created opportunities for local producers to showcase their goods at large public events, such as the Great New York State Fair and the Barclays Tournament at Bethpage State Park. The Taste NY initiative has seen steady growth and recognition. The program reported sales of $4.5 million in 2015 and nearly tripled those sales to more than $13.1 million in 2016. Today, New York products sold under Taste NY branding are available in more than 60 locations throughout the State as well as the New York State Office of Trade and Tourism in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more information about Taste NY, please visit www.taste.ny.gov. Connect with Taste NY through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
The New York State Fair, operated by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, runs from August 23 to September 4, 2017. The Fair’s mission, reflected in its theme, “FIND YOUR GREAT,” is to showcase the best of New York agriculture while providing top-quality entertainment.
The record attendance number from 2001 is history. It was an amazing run this year at the NYS Fair! Folks curious about the renovations to the fairgrounds and the near perfect weather for all days of the Fair clearly had an impact.
Here is the breakdown of the attendance numbers for 2016:
* New Attendance Record ** Previous Attendance Record
For a look at NYS Fair Attendance from 1906 to present, click below:
New-York-State-Fair-All-Time-Daily-Attendance
It seems someone, a man in his 20’s or 30’s, hurled himself into Justin Bieber’s likeness at the Sand Sculpture display at the NYS Fair a couple of days ago… The story has been picked up on all the major networks and news agencies. Whether you like the Biebs or not, any story that involves him or just his sand portrait is apparently newsworthy… #nysfair #justinbieber
Courtesy Syracuse.com
Just over 90,000 people passed through the gates of the New York State Fair Thursday, surpassing an attendance record that had stood more than a decade.
Fair officials said that $3 Thursday helped draw 23,589 more people to the state fair than the same day last year. The previous attendance record for the second Thursday of the fair, set in 2003, was 81,369 people. Crowds Thursday were strong early on and followed by a rush of people mid-afternoon, fair officials said. Nearly 25,000 people packed Chevy Court for Flo Rida in the evening.
Nearly 90,000 more people have come to the fair so far this year compared to 2015. If the fair had ended Thursday the total attendance of 648,762 people would make it the largest fair since 1978.
| Day | 2015 | 2016 | Change | Percent change | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | 62,136 | 68,292 | 6,156 | 9.9% | 74,385 (2000) |
| Friday | 81,020 | 75,970 | -5,050 | -6.2% | 92,782 (2001) |
| Saturday | 88,177 | 105,501 | 17,324 | 19.6% | 115,324 (2010) |
| Sunday | 77,147 | 84,868 | 7,721 | 10.0% | 105,894 (2002) |
| Monday | 68,827 | 82,082 | 13,255 | 19.3% | 85,711 (2011) |
| Tuesday | 58,029 | 78,548 | 20,519 | 35.4% | 102,098 (1972) |
| Wednesday | 57,576 | 63,465 | 5,889 | 10.2% | 112,774 (1972) |
| Thursday | 66,447 | 90,036 | 23,589 | 35.5% | 81,369 (2003) |
| Friday | 71,345 | 103,117 (2002) | |||
| Saturday | 93,576 | 120,617 (2014) | |||
| Sunday | 101,695 | 119,726 (1985) | |||
| Labor Day | 82,172 | 122,870 (2014) | |||
| Totals | 825,975 | 1,011,248 (2001) |
Source: New York State Fair
The theme this year for the Sand Sculpture, located in the Center of Progress Building at the NYS Fair is “Tribute to the Grandstand”. It features past acts that appeared at the now demolished Grandstand (*sniff*). The details were amazing to see and with the exception of maybe Justin Bieber, the sand artists captured the performers likeness beautifully! Enjoy.
