Back after a year hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Fair looks and feels different.

The changes start in the morning with later gate-opening times, but the biggest difference from past fairs, for visitors and the people charged with bringing the fair back, is, of course, the coronavirus protocols.

This summer, regardless of vaccination status, fairgoers must wear masks inside all fairground buildings.

But more than 700 days after wrapping up the 2019 edition, the great New York State Fair was bustling again on Friday, and this year, one of the biggest changes to the fair is its length.

And while the 18-day fair has been in the works for some time, New York State Fair Director Troy Waffner said it could help spread out attendance, which should be positive for vehicle traffic and pedestrians at the fairgrounds, even helping with social distancing in some cases.

The fair was a welcome return for Marie Tyler of Schuyler and Johanna Carriero of Rome.

"We missed it last year," Tyler said. "You know, it was one less place you could go, along with all the other little festivals around the state, you know? It's good to have it here again."

"I go all over. I eat, enjoy and rest, and have a couple of brewskis, you know?" Carriero said.

Due to pandemic-related concerns, there are some noticeable differences, though many didn't seem to mind that masking is required indoors.

"I think it's appropriate, and you're protecting yourself and others," Carriero said. "I think it's a very good idea."

There’s also testing and vaccines available on-site, a state fair first, something that will, hopefully, not become a necessary annual tradition.

"I think it's a good idea to have it available to people who want to get it," Tyler said. "We need to get a handle on this and get it done. People are tired of it."

On Friday, most fairgoers were adhering to the guidelines, though some walked defiantly through buildings, and others who forgot or broke their masks came to pick them up.

It took teams of people to coordinate safety measures for Tyler, Carriero and the more than one million attendees expected over the next couple of weeks.

"There's a lot of challenges, so this one, I mean, we're shut down for a year and what worries me about that is there's a lot of muscle memory that goes into this, and sometimes you don't always write everything down," Waffner said. "My biggest fear is we would show up today and we would forget to order toilet paper or something."