Share Your County Fair Experience Here
April 26, 2005 7:46 AM Subscribe
I'd like to contribute this one, located near my wonderful alma mater. I went there a few years back for the demolition derby, and it was honestly one of the coolest things I ever saw. Especially when one guy showed up with an inflatable sex-doll in his passenger seat and he got disqualified for indecency. The midwest rocks.
posted by bardic at 8:35 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by bardic at 8:35 AM on April 26, 2005
Aww, Man!! Someone took my retirement activity!! (Come and visit Hillbilly Bob!)
Guess I'll have to settle for being "The Whittler" who turns big sticks into little sticks for free, poses for pictures for $1 and dispences wisdom for $2.
And I thought I had it all worked out!
posted by Balisong at 8:48 AM on April 26, 2005
Guess I'll have to settle for being "The Whittler" who turns big sticks into little sticks for free, poses for pictures for $1 and dispences wisdom for $2.
And I thought I had it all worked out!
posted by Balisong at 8:48 AM on April 26, 2005
County fairs are great, especially when you have one that's still mostly a county fair and not all carnie-nasty. The Sussex County Fair is still good.
And don't be breakin' on Tractor Pulls. There is some good, clean (except for the mud and dirt and stuff), extremely loud fun to be had there. I prefer when they just have real tractors, not big monster machines. The tractors that win are invariably at least 50 years old, and I love that.
Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to waffle ice cream sandwiches and corn dogs.
posted by dammitjim at 8:52 AM on April 26, 2005
And don't be breakin' on Tractor Pulls. There is some good, clean (except for the mud and dirt and stuff), extremely loud fun to be had there. I prefer when they just have real tractors, not big monster machines. The tractors that win are invariably at least 50 years old, and I love that.
Also, I'd like to give a shout-out to waffle ice cream sandwiches and corn dogs.
posted by dammitjim at 8:52 AM on April 26, 2005
Greasy_skillet: Wow. The Combine Demo Derby looks awesome. I imagine that there's less deafening engine noise, but that it makes up for it with crunching metal noise.
To the non-US mefi audience: do you guys do crazy stuff like this at your country festivals, or is it all big beer steins? Do share!
posted by dammitjim at 8:56 AM on April 26, 2005
To the non-US mefi audience: do you guys do crazy stuff like this at your country festivals, or is it all big beer steins? Do share!
posted by dammitjim at 8:56 AM on April 26, 2005
Always seemed like a crappy redneck activity to me. Then my girlfriend (now fiancee) took me to the Bloomsburg Fair. And I had an awesome time. The food was delicious, the demolition derby was bizarrely entertaining, the animals were awesome (if smelly), and when we got bored, we...made fun of rednecks!
On preview: dammitjim, I see your shoutout to waffle ice cream sandwiches and raise you a shoutout to cajun ribwich sandwiches.
posted by schustafa at 8:57 AM on April 26, 2005
On preview: dammitjim, I see your shoutout to waffle ice cream sandwiches and raise you a shoutout to cajun ribwich sandwiches.
posted by schustafa at 8:57 AM on April 26, 2005
Kiddie tractor pulls are AWESOME. 3-10 year olds riding a tricycle with a weight sled behind it, just like the big boys. And we've got a FULL PULL!
posted by true at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by true at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2005
And then there's the Oregon County Fair. It's really a cool experience and I don't think you can say that you've seen all sides of Oregon until you've been.
posted by Staggering Jack at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by Staggering Jack at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2005
Like the disappearance of the wooden barns and covered bridges, and the privately-owned farm, County (and State) Fairs are a dying breed. I, for one, am sorry to see this way of life disappearing.
(Also, the city mice have been making fun of the country mice for as long as there have been cities. Enjoy yourself.)
posted by spock at 9:17 AM on April 26, 2005
(Also, the city mice have been making fun of the country mice for as long as there have been cities. Enjoy yourself.)
posted by spock at 9:17 AM on April 26, 2005
Bah. Tractor Pulls are sooo pre-peak-oil.
A good Horse Pull, now THAT'S a day at the fair!
posted by Floydd at 10:06 AM on April 26, 2005
A good Horse Pull, now THAT'S a day at the fair!
posted by Floydd at 10:06 AM on April 26, 2005
>The tractors that win are invariably at least 50 years old, and I love that.
I knew an older guy who competed in the tractor pulls well into his seventies. And he used the old tractors you speak of.
He lived in this old farm house on an eighty acre farm that eventually became - anthromorphism aside - a farm house anomoly facing a six lane throughfare in a commercial strip. Kept his tractor on the property, iirc.
posted by philfromhavelock at 10:10 AM on April 26, 2005
I knew an older guy who competed in the tractor pulls well into his seventies. And he used the old tractors you speak of.
He lived in this old farm house on an eighty acre farm that eventually became - anthromorphism aside - a farm house anomoly facing a six lane throughfare in a commercial strip. Kept his tractor on the property, iirc.
posted by philfromhavelock at 10:10 AM on April 26, 2005
Make sure you pour your illegal beer into a quart container of milk! Wow, that one fools the parents but it was accepted behavior at our local fairgrounds. Hundreds of John Deere hat wearing teenagers swigging from milk cartons and getting increasingly loopy.
posted by dhacker at 10:51 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by dhacker at 10:51 AM on April 26, 2005
Holy crap dfowler! Exploding toads? Is that next to the world's smallest horse exhibit?
posted by tr33hggr at 11:10 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by tr33hggr at 11:10 AM on April 26, 2005
Why are we making fun of the good people of Lorain County, Ohio? we need their votes next cycle. And they're not that red.
posted by orthogonality at 11:17 AM on April 26, 2005
posted by orthogonality at 11:17 AM on April 26, 2005
I love county fairs, and go to about as many as I can manage. (I live in Northwest Ohio, so really there's more fairs over the summer than I know what to do with.)
It's kind of expensive, and I admit I don't fully understand the rules, but the National Tractor Pulling Championships are one of my favorites.
posted by benimoto at 11:48 AM on April 26, 2005
It's kind of expensive, and I admit I don't fully understand the rules, but the National Tractor Pulling Championships are one of my favorites.
posted by benimoto at 11:48 AM on April 26, 2005
Scroll down for the best views.
http://www.1976design.com/blog/archive/2004/08/28/san-mateo-county-fair/
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 6:25 PM on April 26, 2005
http://www.1976design.com/blog/archive/2004/08/28/san-mateo-county-fair/
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 6:25 PM on April 26, 2005
My ex-boyfriend was in the pit crew for a guy in the demolition derby at the Logan (IL) County Fair. First and only demolition derby I've been to.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:26 PM on April 26, 2005
posted by SisterHavana at 7:26 PM on April 26, 2005
Longbaugh: um, the beatboxing chinchilla was added in post for that, right? Because that was really weird.
posted by dammitjim at 8:03 PM on April 26, 2005
posted by dammitjim at 8:03 PM on April 26, 2005
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posted by tr33hggr at 8:29 AM on April 26, 2005