America’s Oldest Fair
It's kind of funny how separated York and Harrisburg are from each other. The former capital of the United States is a mere half an hour from Harrisburg up or down Route 83 (assuming it's not rush hour) depending on your perspective, but the populations don't seem to mix all that much. Yes, some people from York work in Harrisburg. That's obvious to anyone who has ever been stopped two miles from the 83 split and prayed that the trucker behind him was paying attention. There are obviously some who make the trek for entertainment purposes too, but it doesn't seem to be a common phenomenon. I suppose that's why I'd never been to the York Fair, despite its claim to being America's First Fair.
I finally got around to going Sunday, not to see a concert, but just to check out the scene and see what was going on. My fiancée and I got there around noon, and things were just starting to pick up as we walked down the Midway. The fair is, at its core, pretty much like most fairs, only bigger. You've got the standard portable amusement rides, but more of them. You've got carnival games, but more of them. You've got deliciously artery-clogging food, but more of it.
CHECK OUT JUSTIN’S PHOTOS FROM THE YORK FAIR ON FLICKR
The fair was originally started in 1765 by Thomas Penn (son of William) as a two-day agricultural market, and it has stayed true to those roots. There is a horticulture building and a stock show in addition to all the entertainment and food options. The horticulture section included some absurdly large produce (two-pound apple anyone?), and the stock barn was one of the cleanest and most well-lit ones I had ever seen.
The whole fair is very clean, actually. The organizers make an obvious effort to keep the grounds tidy, and even after the three and a half inches of rain that dropped on York on Saturday, the grounds weren’t a sloppy mess on Sunday afternoon. Really, we just kind of moseyed around and took it all in. I poked my head into the Toyota Pavilion where they have all of the big concerts, walked through the rabbit exhibit and tried to peek through the crowd to see the bear show. Had football not been on the tube, I might have stayed a little bit longer and played a few games of “I Got It.” It’s a game where you throw little bouncy balls into a wooden grid and try to make straight lines, and I’ve heard it’s quite addictive. Going during the day was nice, but it seemed to me like things would really pick up at night.
If you are going down to see Blake Shelton (tonight), ZZ Top (Tuesday), Breaking Benjamin and Seether (Wednesday), Brooks & Dunn (Thursday) or Daughtry (Saturday), leave a little bit of extra time to check out the rest of the fair. We were there for a few hours and we didn’t play any games, ride any rides or look at half of the stuff that was there. I’ve added the schedule for each day of the fair to Spotobe’s calendar. We are gradually expanding our coverage area, but in the meantime (great Spacehog song), I’m going to make a point of trying to highlight major events that are going on all over the region. If you’d like to see my photos from the fair, you can check them out on Flickr.
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