The New York State Fair begins in one week, and restaurateurs, exhibitors and fair staff are preparing for the 13-day event.
Here’s what you need to know about the Aug. 23 to Sept. 4 fair.
Admission ticket and parking pass prices
Daily admission is $6 for adults; free admission for children under 12 and seniors over 65. Tickets and parking passes can be purchased online ahead of the fair.
Parking costs $10 per vehicle and can be purchased upon entering the fair. E-Z Pass Plus will be accepted in the brown and orange lots. There will be no cash sales for parking passes.
The orange lot opens at 9 a.m.; brown, pink and gray lots open at 6 a.m.; Willis Avenue lot opens at 10 a.m. only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day.
“My parking tip is we’ve worked very closely with Centro to have bus service from various locations across Central New York area, and we really do implore people to use those resources,” interim state fair director Sean Hennessey said.
Centro will offer rides from the Centro Transit Hub in downtown Syracuse, Destiny USA and Long Branch Park in Liverpool. Rides to the fairgrounds will be available from 8:45 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. and return rides will run from 9 a.m. - midnight.
Hennessey said the buses will run roughly every 15 minutes. One-way tickets will cost $1 for adults and 50 cents for people with a disability, seniors and children from 6 to 9 years old. Children 5 and under ride free.
There is plenty of parking if guests plan to drive to the grounds, and the Empire State Trail also leads to the fairgrounds, Hennessey said.
Fair hours
Open daily from 9 a.m. - 11 p.m. but no entry or re-entry after 10 p.m.
Building hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. The Daniel Parrish Witter Agriculture Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. The Wegmans Art & Home Center is open daily from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
The midway is open daily from 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. except Sept. 4 when it will close at 9 p.m. Midway wrist bands can also be purchased online in advance.
Special fair days
Aug. 23: Opening Day, Governor’s Day
Aug. 24: Student Youth Day (students 18 and under are admitted free), Agricultural Career Day
Aug. 25: Pride Day, New Americans Day, Family Fishing Day
Aug. 28: Law Enforcement Day (Law enforcement workers are admitted free with presentation of a badge or picture ID)
Aug. 29: Fire & Resue Day (Fire and rescue workers are admitted free with presentation of ID), Beef Day
Aug. 30: Women's Day
Aug. 31: Armed Forces Day (members of the military are admitted free), Dairy Day, Stomp Out Stigma Day
Sept. 1: Native Americans Day (Members of Native American tribes are admitted free)
Sept. 2: Apple Day
Sept. 4: Labor Day
Attendance expectations and traffic outlook
Hennessey expects attendance to be up this year citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a concern for guests in previous years.
“In New York state and across the country, people are more comfortable being amongst each other gearing out of the COVID-19 situation, so I expect that this is going to be a banner year for the state fair as long as the weather holds out, that’s the one thing we can’t really control,” he said.
The pre-pandemic attendance in 2019 still outpaces the 2021 and 2022 fair, according to data from the New York State Fair. The 2019 fair holds the record for the largest 13-day total attendance of 1,329,275 when last year it was 878,110.
For daily traffic outlooks, follow our interactive traffic map.
Agriculture exhibits, dinosaurs and more
Some of the new exhibits this year include a dinosaur exhibition in the Expo Center, Voice of the Farmer and a new Asian Village, Hennessey said.
Voice of the Farmer will showcase cash crops produced in New York and is located on the west end adjacent to Restaurant Row near the goat pavilion.
“There are roughly 30 to 40 raised beds in there, and we’re growing soy, corn, squash and tomatoes. We’ll have educators from Cornell Cooperative Extension on the ground for the full 13 days so people can learn about the various agriculture products we grow across the state,” Hennessey said.
The talent show case will be returning to the fair for the first time since 2019 with contestants from 10 counties, he said.
The dinosaur exhibit features 60 life-size and interactive dinosaur displays and will be in the Expo Center, Hennessey said. The exhibit is free to enter and is open between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Hennessey said he is looking forward to the opening of the Asian Village this year.
“Having something like this on the grounds is a new platform for us, and it’s just a great thing for people in the Asian community to be able to come somewhere and feel at home,” he said.
Some of the returning shows and exhibits include the Hollywood Racing Pigs, the Circus and the Birds of Prey exhibit, Hennessey said.
Concerts
With a wide range of acts coming to the state fair this year, Hennessey said there is something for everyone.
“We have virtually all the genres covered. We have ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s. We have TikTok covered. If you want something you’re going to find it here at the fair,” he said.
Some of the talent coming to the fair include Lainey Wilson, Tyler Hubbard, REO Speedwagon, Ludacris and Yung Gravy. For the full schedule of concerts, visit the state fair website.
Staffing and vendors
“Oh boy, we have a lot,” Hennessey said regarding new food vendors who will be at the fair. There will also be many returning vendors.
Toss & Fire Pizza will be returning this year with their exclusive fair pizzas, which they announced last week: a street corn pizza, smash burger pizza and a peach cobbler pizza.
In addition to their new exclusive fair pizzas, they will bring back some fair pizzas from previous years, said Nick Sanford, the owner of the wood-fired pizza restaurant.
“We teamed up with Mamacitas to do a birria pizza. We’re doing our SummerCuse, which is our signature salt potato pizza with pulled pork, Dinosaur Barbecue sauce and sour cream, and our state fair sausage pizza with Basilio sausage, peppers and onions,” Sanford said.
While they don’t anticipate many issues with staffing, Sanford said it can be difficult for this time of year with college students returning to school.
“Staffing is always a challenge especially at the end of the summer,” Sanford said. “Luckily we’re fortunate to have a really great key group of people that work for us.”
For the full list of vendors, click here.
Security and smoking policy
Upon entry to the fair, guests will go through object detectors and large bulky bags will be searched, Hennessey said.
“We’ll have various types of object detectors at the gates when people enter. We want everyone to feel safe and sound on the grounds,” he said.
The smoking policy at the fair has changed this year, Hennessey said.
“It’s a smoke-free facility now, and there will be five locations outside our gates where folks can smoke if they’d like, but the campus itself is going to be smoke free,” he said.
There will be designated smoking areas located outside of gates 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11A. Guests must be 50 feet from the entrance.
Read more about rules and policies at the fair.