The "Great" New York State Fair

The end of summer means fair time in Syracuse, as the New York State Fair opens in late August and runs 10 days before its Labor Day finale. We went to the fair on Friday to help staff the Lutheran booth, and to enjoy the people & food.

The fair grounds have many permanent buildings like the horticulture building shown below. It was gladiola day when we were there, and the various displays of those lovely flowers were wonderful to see.



This building is also home to a giant sand sculpture. We watched the sculptors at work, and we loved this year's theme.....
And, tucked in among the flower exhibits, the bee cage & honey exhibit, the maple syrup exhibit, the baked potato booth, and much more, is our favorite little restaurant where we indulged in hot apple dumplings.
Since I was in charge of scheduling the staff for our congregation's day at the booth, we checked in to be certain all was well, and then off we went to see the sights.


The fair is the crowning point for many young people and adults who show their wares at county fairs and then are chosen to exhibit at the state fair. We wandered through the arts and crafts building, and looked at beautiful quilts, sweaters, etc. Lots of very talented people out there! We looked at the photography section as well, but the barns have always been my favorite.

We started with the horses....




Then on to the sheep, llamas and goats.

It was milking time for the goats, and these little girls wanted to get a close up look at how it is done.

We saw cows and pigs and then toured through the poultry barn. Erika - this photo's for you!

The butter sculpture in the dairy building is a must see....

and no visit to a fair could be complete without a trip down the midway!

It was a very enjoyable day!