The post-game talk and ruminations continue following the record-smashing 2016 New York State Fair. Opinions, in this case, are somewhat like fried dough in that everybody has one.
There have been complaints from drivers caught in traffic, (Bumper-to-Bumper Cars, Sep. 8, 2016) vendors with sagging sales, patrons who couldn’t find their favorite features and country music fans who felt snubbed. 
OK, there were issues. There’s plenty of time to work on them. But the first point to make is that this State Fair, the first ever to average more than 90,000 people per day, was an unmitigated success. The final attendance total, a stunning 1,117,630, is all the evidence needed. As much as the Fair is about fun, it’s primarily a business and there’s no doubt, a lot of people made a lot of money.
Incredibly, it can get even bigger. Consider, for example, the western end of the grounds, where there was what one State Fair Hound reader called “the great open nothingness.” Plans for use of the space out past the barns, near the racing stables, aren’t firm, but that opportunity is truly exciting in terms of potential use. 
Acting Director Troy Waffner has offered a glimpse into what may be coming, as have long-range ideas advanced by the Governor. The key has to be to make things fit together. More attractions down there mean more patrons, thus more opportunity for restaurants and other vendors. Remember, the Paw Patrol show was placed in that area and drew enormous throngs, so we know that if they build it, people will come.
Some critics have looked at what didn’t work so well in totally negative terms, as racing fans did with demolition of the Grandstand and track. But this year represents more progress and exciting prospects than anything else. Doubters need only take another look at that number–1,117,630.
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