The Best State Fair or Festival in Every State in the USA
Louisiana
Mardi Gras. There, we said it. You know it’s worth a trip. But that’s just one way of soaking in Louisiana’s unique culture and traditions. To celebrate the state’s agrarian roots, you’ll want to head over to Shreveport for the State Fair of Louisiana, which takes place from October 25 to November 11. True to state fair form, Louisiana’s fair mixes hay-bale decorating and antique tractor-pulling with a BB Gun Competition and the Bayou Arm Wrestling Championship, while offering these 20 not-to-be-missed foods, including craw fish and crab boudin, fried craw fish, gators and taters, and grilled back-wrapped shrimp-on-a-stick. May we just say “yum”!?
Maine
Since Maine is part of the New England states, Maine folk can and do take part in the larger Eastern States Exposition in Massachusetts. However, Maine has a broad array of its own state-specific agricultural fairs. These include the Bangor State Fair, which took place July 27 through August 5, 2018 in Bass Park, Bangor. With its combination of horse-pulling, demolition derby, Alaskan bears, Bengal tigers, pogo-stunt shows, and a chain-saw carving exhibition, it’s certainly unique. However, when it comes to celebrating rural living in Maine, there is nothing like the Common Ground Country Fair.
Scheduled for September 21 through 23, 2018, the Common Ground Fair has been in operation since 1977 and is expecting 60,000 visitors this year. What makes the Common Ground Fair truly unique is that it has come to be a gathering place for peaceful political activism. Typically, the fair hosts a large number of political action groups and activists. And these groups get things done: The ban on bottled water in Maine came out of an experiment that took place in at the Common Ground Fair in 2008, involving the installation of water filling stations to test the viability of a bottled water ban.
But we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk also about this fair’s agricultural and animal husbandry features. If you’ve ever wondered how to operate a scythe (for weed whacking and grass cutting), or exactly how border collies shepherd sheep, or which breed of rooster is for you, then this is your fair.
Maryland
The Maryland State Fair has been an annual event since 1878 and is proud of its firm commitment to its agrarian roots. “As many citizens become more removed from agriculture, the Fair has attempted to close the gap,” say the organizers, who have dedicated themselves to including exhibits and activities that are steeped in state fair tradition but also appeal to modern folk. One of the most popular venues at the fair, a full-scale animal birthing center has given thousands of fair-goers the opportunity to witness the birth of calves and piglets and hatching of chicks, under the supervision of veterinarians and University of Maryland Agriculture professors and students. This year, Maryland’s fair took place August 23 through September 3, 2018 in Timonium.
But it seems wrong to talk about Maryland and not mention anything about its famous hard-shell crabs. So we’re going to take a pause and recommend the National Hard Crab Derby on Labor Day Weekend in Crisfield. This crab-themed festival features crab races, crab cooking and picking contests, carnival rides, arts and crafts, vendors, live entertainment, a Miss Crustacean Pageant, and a Boat Docking Contest. It closes with a gospel concert and fireworks.
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