Sunday, August 28, 2011

Free tickets to the NYS Fair (8/25/11 - 9/5/11)

Wow. The New York State Fair is so huge I don't know where to begin. At the beginning? At the first NYS Fair, held in Syracuse in 1841, about 12,000 people saw animal exhibits, a plowing contest, and sampled products for farm and home.

This past Saturday, August 27, 2011, more than 100,000 people attended fair events, ranging from a rooster crowing competition to a cheese sculpture demonstration. The events continue through Labor Day, and there are just too many food and agriculture events to detail each one.

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Here are a few highlights from the NYS Fair brochure:

*"Each year the Fair receives approximately 40,000 entries for agriculture-related contests, including competitions that feature 11,000 of New York’s best cattle, goats, pigs, llamas, sheep, fowl and rabbits. You can tour the barns and talk to the families who bring their award-winning animals to the Fair for competitions. You can also check out the thousands of other impressive agriculture-related entries, such as flowers, fruit, honey, wines and Christmas trees, that are submitted by people throughout New York State and highlighted in the 4-H Youth and FFA buildings."

You can find local food at the Fairgrounds...

*"Pride of New York Marketplace: Located just inside of the main gate, this New York-only market offers something for everyone, from homemade salsas to one-of-a-kind BBQ sauces to any kind of sauce, pasta or syrup you could ever dream of."

*"The Fair Farmers’ Market: This old-time Farmers’ Market, located near the main gate, will allow you to stock up on fresh sweet corn, carrots, peppers, plums and apples before you leave the Fair."

*"New York Maple Center: Come enjoy the sweet tastes of maple syrup, maple cotton candy and other maple treats while learning about the fascinating, age-old process that is used to make maple syrup. The Maple Center is located in the Horticulture Building.

*"Dairy Products Building: You can check out the world-famous butter sculpture made from 800 pounds of creamy New York butter, have a 25-cent glass of cold chocolate milk, sample delicious cheeses or have a yummy-in-your-tummy milkshake."

*"Demonstrations: You’ll have the opportunity to go home with a new recipe and cooking ideas after watching one of the many cooking demonstrations that take place in the Wegmans Demonstration Kitchen in the Art & Home Center."

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Oh wait, did I say something about free tickets? The good folks at the NYS Fair are offering a lucky reader of Ithaca's Food Web general admission tickets to the Fair. Be the first to comment on this post and we'll hook you up!

4 comments:

  1. I think it's also the Dairy products building that has cheesecake on a stick. (Cold, not fried, thankfully.) One of the great joys of State fairs is food on a stick.

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  2. Great. Send an email to me at ithacasfoodweb@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number, so you'll be able to pick them up with a photo ID at will call (I won't use your info for any other purposes). Please send me your info by the end of the day -- if I don't hear from you, then I'll open up the contest again. Thanks!

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  3. Cheesecake on a stick?! I also heard a rumor about fried butter. Yech!

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