In the United States, a state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in their categories at the more-local county fairs.
State fairs began in the nineteenth century for the purpose of promoting state agriculture, through competitive exhibitions of livestock and display of farm products. As the U.S. evolved from a predominantly agrarian to an industrial society in the twentieth century, and the more service economy of the 21st century, modern state fairs have expanded to include carnival amusement rides and games, display of industrial products, baking competitions, crafts (such as quilting and crop art), automobile racing, and entertainment such as musical concerts. Large fairs can admit more than a million visitors over the course of a week or two. The oldest state fair is that of The Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair, established in 1738, and is the oldest fair in Virginia and the United States. The first U.S. state fair was the New York one, held in 1841 in Syracuse, and has been held annually since. The second state fair was in Detroit, Michigan, which ran from 1849 to 2009. The fair was revived in 2013 and has been held at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan, ever since.
From August 22, 2025 – September 7, 2026, the Renwick Gallery exhibited State Fairs: Growing American Craft, the “first major exhibition to survey American state fairs’ extraordinary and unconventional crafts from the nineteenth century to the present.” The exhibit was accompanied by a catalog by Mary Savig ().
Events similar to state fairs are also held annually in each state capital in Australia, known as royal shows. Australian royal shows are organized by state agricultural and horticultural societies, and are described further in the agricultural show article.
List of state fairs
United States
State or Region Fair Name Location Typical Month(s) Attendance (year) Attendance as % of State Pop.!a!a!a -9999!a!a!a 10000000000 AlabamaAlabama State FairBirmingham Alabama State Fair MontgomeryMontgomery Alabama National Fair Alaska Kenai Peninsula Fair Ninilchik 7,300 (2013) .99% Southeast Alaska State Fair Haines Tanana Valley State Fair Fairbanks 12.49%Alaska State Fair Palmer 299,698 (2015) 40.68% ArizonaArizona State Fair Phoenix 1,102,044 (2015) 16.37% Navajo Nation Fair Window Rock 100,000 (2016) 57.58% (of Navajo Nation) Arkansas Arkansas State Fair Little Rock 473,106 (2015) 15.95% CaliforniaCalifornia State Fair Sacramento 673,237 (2016) 1.7% ColoradoColorado State Fair Pueblo 466,576 (2016) 8.71% DelawareDelaware State Fair Harrington 262,587 (2016) 28.07% District of ColumbiaDC State Fair Washington FloridaFlorida State Fair Tampa 397,992 (2025) 1.70% Georgia Georgia State Fair Hampton Georgia National Fair Perry, Georgia 535,000 (2016) 5.30% North Georgia State Fair Marietta 320,000 (2016) 3.17% Hawaii Hawaii 50th State Fair Aiea IdahoEastern Idaho State Fair Blackfoot 249,892 (2021) 14.08%Western Idaho Fair Boise August 243,474 (2016) 14.90% North Idaho Fair Coeur d'Alene 168,567 (2022) 5.18% IllinoisDuQuoin State Fair Du Quoin Illinois State Fair Springfield 509,000 (2019) 4.00% IndianaIndiana State Fair Indianapolis 730,000 (2016) 11.07% IowaIowa State Fair Des Moines 1,130,260 (2018) 35.93% KansasKansas State Fair Hutchinson 359,808 (2016) 12.39% KentuckyKentucky State Fair Louisville August 609,955 (2017) 13.7% Louisiana Cajun Heartland State Fair Lafayette Greater Baton Rouge State Fair Baton Rouge State Fair of Louisiana Shreveport 379,700 (2017) 9.78% Maine Bangor State Fair Bangor Skowhegan State Fair Skowhegan Fryeburg Fair Fryeburg 166,838 (2016) 12.54% MarylandMaryland State Fair Timonium 588,000 (2013) 9.53% Michigan Michigan State Fair Novi 92,000 (2014) .93%Upper Peninsula State Fair Escanaba 80,000 (2013) .81% MinnesotaMinnesota State Fair Falcon Heights 1,940,869 (2025) 33.29% MississippiMississippi State Fair Jackson 733,151 (2016) 24.49% MissouriMissouri State Fair Sedalia August 349,048 (2023) Montana Montana State Fair Great Falls 54,938 (2015) 5.37% MontanaFair Billings, Montana 226,333 (2016) 22.10% NebraskaNebraska State Fair Grand Island 379,108 (2017) 19.88% Nevada The Nevada State Fair Carson City 22,000 (2015) .77% New EnglandThe Big E West Springfield, Massachusetts 1,629,527 (2019) 10.97% New HampshireHopkinton State Fair Contoocook New JerseyNew Jersey State Fair Augusta 420,000 (2013) 4.70% New MexicoNew Mexico State Fair Albuquerque 497,000 (2016) 23.83%Southern New Mexico State Fair Las Cruces Northern Navajo Nation Fair Shiprock New YorkGreat New York State Fair Syracuse 1,329,275 (2019) 6.8% North CarolinaNorth Carolina State Fair Raleigh October–November 1,028,364 (2016) 10.34%Dixie Classic FairWinston-Salem357,416 (2011)3.7%North Carolina Mountain State Fair Fletcher 187,819 (2007) 1.89% North DakotaNorth Dakota State Fair Minot July 293,123 (2016) 39.64% OhioOhio State Fair Columbus 921,000 (2016) 7.95% OklahomaOklahoma State Fair Oklahoma City 900,000 (2012) 23.21%Tulsa State Fair Tulsa 1,206,000 (2016 estimate) 31.10% OregonOregon State Fair Salem 346,000 (2022 estimate) 8.16% PennsylvaniaAllentown Fair Allentown 500,000 (approx) (2014) 3.91% Butler Fair Prospect 240,000 (approx) (2011) 1.88% Bloomsburg Fair Bloomsburg 364,037 (2015) 2.85% The Reading Fair Reading 40,000 (2016) 0.3% York State Fair York 555,252 (2016) 4.34% Rhode Island Washington County Fair Richmond around 100,000 9.48% South CarolinaSouth Carolina State Fair Columbia 464,878 (2016) 9.62% South Dakota South Dakota State Fair Huron 211,371 (2016) 24.77% TennesseeTennessee State Fair Lebanon August 115,000 (2015) 1.76% Delta Fair Memphis about 200,000 (2016) 3.05%Tennessee Valley Fair Knoxville 180,000 (approx) 2.75% TexasSouth Texas State Fair Beaumont 175,000 (2014) .65%State Fair of Texas Dallas October 2,020,064 (2025) 6.37% East Texas State FairWaterson, James and Seymour, Rachel Anne. Pulling Up Stakes: East Texas State Fair Says Goodbye Until Next Year. Tyler Morning Telegraph, October 4th, 2010, p. 1A, 6A Tyler about 250,000 (estimate from 2016) .93%North Texas State Fair Denton 200,000 (estimate from 2023) .68% UtahUtah State Fair Salt Lake City around 300,000 (2014) 10.19% VermontVermont State Fair Rutland 40,00050,000 (2022) 9.83% VirginiaState Fair of Virginia Caroline County 238,000 (2014) 2.86% WashingtonCentral Washington State Fair Yakima 312,191 (2016) 4.42%Evergreen State Fair Monroe 342,631 (2016) 4.85%Northwest Washington Fair Lynden 189,154 (2015) 2.68%Washington State Fair Puyallup 1,117,323 (2012) 15.82% West VirginiaState Fair of West Virginia Fairlea 155,000-160,000 (2016) 8.65% WisconsinWisconsin State Fair West Allis August 1,015,815 (2016) 17.64%Central Wisconsin State Fair Marshfield 85,000 (2015) 1.48%Northern Wisconsin State Fair Chippewa Falls 90,000 (2016) 1.56% Wyoming Wyoming State Fair Douglas
Notes
State fair police departments Several state fairs maintain their own police departments, including: California Exposition and State Fair Police Iowa State Fair Police Kentucky State Fair Board Police Department Minnesota State Fair Police Department North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Police Wisconsin State Fair Park Police Department
Provincial exhibitions in Canada
A few annual exhibitions in the summer in Canada are similar to state fairs in the United States:
Province Fair Name Location Attendance (year)!a!a!a-9999!a!a!a10000000000 Alberta Calgary Stampede Calgary 1,275,465 (2019) Alberta K-Days Edmonton 702,327 (2019) British Columbia Pacific National Exhibition Vancouver 731,708 (2019) Ontario Canadian National Exhibition Toronto 1,500,000 (2019) Ontario Ottawa SuperEX (defunct) Ottawa 422,095 (2009) Ontario Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Toronto 300,000 (average per annum) Ontario Western Fair London 170,000 (2015) Manitoba Red River Exhibition Winnipeg 203,624 (2019) Manitoba Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Brandon 110,000 (2018) Saskatchewan Canadian Western Agribition Regina 121,326 (2019)
Awards State and county fairs are famous for a variety of competitions that award ribbons. Awards are generally given according to the following scale: First place – blue ribbon Second place – red ribbon Third place – white ribbon Fourth place – yellow ribbon Fifth place – green ribbon Sixth place – orange ribbon Seventh place – purple ribbon Eighth place – brown ribbon
Attendance As of 2019, the largest attendance at a state fair in the US is in Texas with the fair having attracted 2,514,637 visitors. Even though it is longer than an average state fair, any advantage is negated by the size of the physical state since those days would be required for the states citizens to have equal opportunity to attend.
The largest average per day attendance is at the Minnesota State Fair averaging just under 200,000 people per day.
See also Agricultural show Rodeo Trade fair World's fair
References