Vermont State Fair

Vermont State Fair

The sign in front of the Vermont State Fair
Genre Fun/entertainment
Location(s) Vermont State Fairgrounds, Rutland, Vermont
Years active 1846-Present
Website
www.vermontstatefair.net

The Vermont State Fair is an annual state fair held in Rutland, Vermont at the Vermont State Fairgrounds. In the past, The event had taken place in early September, and lasted 9 to 10 days. In 2016, the dates were changed to a mid-August festival, with the first August fair taking place on the 16th thru 20th.

History

The Vermont State Fair is an agricultural fair managed by The Rutland County Agricultural Society.

The first Vermont State Fair took place in 1846, making this one of the oldest state fairs in the United States. Originally named the Rutland State Fair, the event started out as a one-day event. The first fair took place in a field near Castleton, with Fredrick Button as the first President of the Rutland County Agricultural Society.

The fair became popular enough that, in 1849, the Rutland Railroad began putting extra cars on their trains to bring people from all over Vermont and Western New York to visit. After moving around Rutland County for a few years, the Rutland Fair grew closer to Rutland City, sometimes setting up on land owned by John Cain (now Grove Street, north of Crescent) or on the old Baxter Estate.

The fair was given a permanent home in 1856. The land at 175 South Main Street in Rutland, VT was originally known as the Rutland County Park. The fair, officially renamed the "Vermont State Fair" in 1972, is still held at this location today.

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Midway

The Midway rides are currently being supplied annually by Amusements of America. Past suppliers have included Family Fun Amusements!, Coleman Brothers Shows, Castlerock Shows, Silver Dollar Shows And World of Mirth Shows.

Ferris Wheel Coleman Brothters
Thunderbolt Coleman Brothers
YoYo and Super Loop

Casella Grandstand

This year's lineup includes an exciting mix of country, rock, gospel, and bluegrass music, as well as fair favorites; demolition derbies and pulling contests! Join us each night for some incredible live entertainment under the grandstand!

Satin & Steel

Friday, September 4 at 7:00pm FREE SHOW!

Truck Pulls

Saturday, September 5 at noon & 6:00pm FREE ADMISSION!

McDonald's Bike Giveaway

Sunday, September 6 at 1:00pm FREE ADMISSION!

Demolition Derby

Sunday, September 6 at 7:00pm $10 Grandstand, $15 Reserved Chairs #1, $20 Reserved Chairs #2, $125 Box #1, $110 Box #2

Nicole Knox Murphy & Louie Allen

Monday, September 7 at 6:00pm Opening for Joe McGinness

Joe McGinness

Monday, September 7 at 7:30pm $5 General Admission

Garden Tractor Pulls

Including B Mini Class Tractors Tuesday, September 8 at 6:00pm FREE ADMISSION!

Gospel Night

Wednesday, September 9 at 7:00pm FREE ADMISSION!

Vermont Championship Demolition Derby

Thursday, September 10 at 7:00pm $10 Grandstand, $15 Reserved Chairs #1, $20 Reserved Chairs #2, $125 Box #1, $110 Box #2

The Machine plays Pink Floyd

Friday, September 11 at 7:00pm $35 General Admission, $240 Box Seats (6 seats) Purchases tickets by August 31 and Gate Admission is included! A savings of $12!

Bluegrass Day

Saturday, September 12 from 11:00am to 6:00pm $5.00 General Admission

New England Championship Demolition Derby

September 12 at 7:00pm $10 Grandstand, $15 Reserved Chairs #1, $20 Reserved Chairs #2, $125 Box #1, $110 Box #2

Entertainment

The fair also contains Free Daily Entertainment (Admission required to get into fairgrounds). The following list is the entertainment for the 2015 Vermont State Fair.

Petting Zoo

The fair's petting zoo allows visitors to touch and feel animals. These animals include sheep, goats, a bull, and others. Nearby is a camel ride, and horse rides.

Hollywood Racing Pigs

Pigs race around a small track to get to a bowl of food. There are three races, each with a different breed of pigs. An announcer talks about the pigs as they race.

Pig Rooters

During each race, a child member of the audience is selected to come up to where the announcer is. While there, the announcer asks he/she questions, such as, Do you like the pigs?, Do you like your mom?, and if he/she says yes, the announcer might say, What do you like better? Afterward, he/she receives a number of prizes, like a necklace or candy.

Circus Hollywood

Circus Hollywood is a large, grand big top circus that performs almost every year at the fair. After taking a few year hiatus, they are back this year, 2015. The circus includes many acts such as trapeze artists, world renowned tightrope walkers Aura Cardinali and Werner Guerrero, silks, and a few other acts including some of the many animals they bring with them.

A Grizzly Experience

A Grizzly Experience is a crazy educational and thrilling show, combining the differences between bear and man into one. The show's largest bear, Tonk, interacts with the other cubs of the show, and makes for an interesting and amazing experience every time. Occasionally, Tonk will not be fed, and is allowed to forage into the audience.

Other Entertainment

The Vermont State Fair has much more entertainment to offer such as The White Shadow, Pony Rides, Friesian Horses, Al the Artist and much more!

Bike Giveaway

Ronald McDonald's Bike Giveaway is an annual once a year event in which tricycles and two different sizes of boys and girls bikes donated by local businesses are raffled, along with two grand prizes. Volunteers help bring the bikes over to the winners who make their way down off of the bleachers to receive them and determine the winners of the grand prizes and (by adults) throw t-shirts during "t-shirt tosses"

Tickets

Tickets of different colors for the raffle are given out for free at the entrance to the Pepsi Grandstand, an area building space for various shops etc. and that contains a large stand of bleachers on the rear exterior. There are five different types of tickets: Tickets for tricycles, for young children aged one to three; Tickets for twenty-inch boys' bikes, for boys aged four to ten; Tickets for twenty-inch girls' bikes, for girls aged four to ten; Tickets for twenty-six inch boys bikes, for boys aged eleven to fourteen; And tickets for twenty-six inch girls' bikes, for girls aged eleven to fourteen. One may only receive one ticket for each type of bike.

Raffles

All of the raffles take place at a stage behind the Grandstand. Audience members are seated on the bleachers. Ronald McDonald announces all of the raffle winners.

Tricycle and Bicycle Raffles

At the start of the event, the raffles for the tricycles and bicycles take place. Volunteers help retrieve the tricycles and bikes for the large group of them.

Grand Prize Raffles

Two grand prizes are raffled directly after the tricycle and bike raffles. Anyone who has already received a tricycle or bike for the previous raffle are still eligible for winning one of the grand prizes. The first prize raffles is by most one's opinions of less value than the second prize (e.g. the first prize may be composed of a portable DVD player along with two movies, two board games and a bocce set, and the second prize may be composed of a wii, along with a two wii games, several happy meal coupons and several fair passes). A local rather renowned person, such as an entrepreneur, draws the tickets for these prizes while looking away, to prove that he/she is not being selective.

"T-shirt Tosses"

At two different points in time selected by Ronald, bundled t-shirts are thrown by hand into all different sections of the audience.

Dining

Roxie's

Roxie's Famous French Fries, or Roxie's is a restaurant located within the fairgrounds. The restaurant is known not only for its french fries, but also for its foot-long hotdogs, and is a popular place to eat amongst fairgoers. Roxie's operates throughout the warmer months of the year, regardless of whether the fair is taking place.

MSJ Green Wave Cafe

The MSJ Green Wave Cafe is a locally run food stand at the Vermont State Fair. The booth is run by many alumni and volunteers to the Mount Saint Joseph (MSJ) Academy in Rutland, Vermont. The booth sells such food as hamburgers, sausages, and many different Pepsi and Coca-Cola products.

Other dining

Other food joints in the fair are popular for selling pizza, Italian sausages, soft drinks, fried dough, corn dogs, candy apples, cotton candy, popcorn, and other popular fair food items.

Admission

2016 Vermont State Fair Admission Prices

 - Adults (Ages 12 and older) = $10.00
 - Children (Ages 6-11) = $5.00
 - Children (Ages 5 and under) = FREE

Hours

2016 Vermont State Fair Hours

 - August 16th ~ 5:00pm to Midnight
 - August 17th ~ 8:00am to 11:00pm
 - August 18th ~ 8:00am to 11:00pm
 - August 19th ~ 8:00am to Midnight
 - August 20th ~ 8:00am to Midnight

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.vermontstatefair.org/about.php

1. http://vermontstatefair.org

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