The countdown to the opening of the 2022 New York State Fair is down to the last few days and the headline story is the return of Sea Lion Splash. Everyone–with the possible exception of the seals themselves–enjoys the fish-catching, fast-swimming, ball-bouncing antics. The show starring those whiskered aquatic mammals is one of just a handful of new features this year as the big news is that the traditional Fair is back after two painful, pandemic-affected years.

“The new features that we have this year are the old features that we have this year,” Interim Director Sean Hennessey told State Fair hound. “What’s new is old. We have a full Fair this year. That’s what’s new about the Fair this year.”

So it’s back to all of the buildings fully open and operational, all of the livestock in the barns and some popular food vendors returning after taking 2021 off. The World of Horses stable and scientific exhibits in the Center of Progress and the Science and Industry Building debut. Eco-Magician Steve Trash performs for the first time in the Empire Theater.

Beyond that, new features will have to wait for next year, when a sparkling new sheep and wool center will be one of several permanent structures to open.

“There’s a refocusing on agriculture,” Hennessey said. “We’re going to be doing groundbreaking on three different facilities sometime during the Fair. There’s going to be a brand new, state-of-the-art, 365-day greenhouse that we’re going to be constructing here on the Fairgrounds. We’re going to be looking at alternative energy packages for that project.”

Mighty Mike and the Strolling Piano return for the second year, joining such longtime luminaries as Hilby, Bandoloni, the Hawk Creek Birds of Prey and Circus Hollywood to put a shine on this year’s Fair.

The make-or-break element this year is really how the public reacts to the grand reopening. Fair customers coming out in big numbers to find the Fair they love waiting for them inside the gates will be cause to celebrate.

With the decision from Gov. Hochul that the New York State Fair will resume its 13-day schedule next year, we can all start looking forward to that and to the return of the traditions and conventions we love in our Fair.

But first, let’s take a quick look back at what we just finished, the only 18-day State Fair in our history and likely the last, at least for a while. This year, people attending the Fair didn’t really know what to expect when they first passed through the gates. It was certainly not the Fair we’ve come to love, but if you gave it a chance, you could have had a great time there nonetheless.

While the absence of some of the most popular food stands dominated the headlines, many favorite vendors returned to their familiar locations from restaurant row to the Eatery to the Pan African Village and the colonnade. Food aside, most disappointing were the missing wine court, closed Agriculture Museum and lack of  livestock, particularly the International Horse Show.

But Hawk Creek Wildlife Center, juggling comedian Hilby, the colorful Circus Hollywood, the delicate butterflies, wacky splashdowns of the Sinbad High Dive Show and one-man rock’n’roll band Bandoloni all returned to the cheers of Fair audiences, while the regal Iroquois Village welcomed us warmly beneath its majestic shade trees.

Additionally, there were great new features such as the daring parachuting skills of the all-women Highlight Pro Skydiving Team, the mobile virtuosity of the Strolling Piano, a wall of pop art from muralist Arcy and  feats of strength from wisecracking Mighty Mike. The pink passion of strawberry milk brought back sweet memories of the Rainbow Milk Bar and the sheer number of big-stage concert acts gave nearly everyone music to enjoy.

The Latino Village is a work in progress, while the racing pigs and the WaterBark show weren’t as much fun as they sound and the sand sculpture, while still artistically amazing, was thematically pretty dull. Aside from the petting zoo, there were no wild animal acts, which is a step in the right direction.

Remember that you can submit ideas, criticisms, compliments and suggestions on the website, nysfair.ny.gov, where planning for 2022 is already underway.

Believe it or not, closing time on Saturday marks the halfway point of the 2021 New York State Fair.

The first-ever Fair to exceed 13 days was destined from the start to be historic, but timing and circumstances have required fans to accept some changes and omissions, challenging all of us to see this milk cup as half full.

We surely need this event at this time to represent a return of treasured traditions and guilty pleasures that have made the run-up to Labor Day a burst of excitement, spurring creation of magical Fair memories.

Aside from simply swinging open the gates, the highlights of the first nine days have included skydivers landing on the New York Experience lawn, the return of muralist Arcy, who is painting a Woodstock-themed wall in the Expo Center, improvements that have made the Chevy Park stage a tremendous success, the premiere of several new food stands, an experimental return of strawberry milk at the milk bar and a few, largely unpopular, changes to Fair procedures.

The second half of this year’s Fair will include the arrival of horses and cows, more concerts (two by the fabulous Mavericks), daily performances by the inimitable Hilby, a Latino Festival and a climactic Labor Day fireworks show. Meanwhile, food vendors, Six-Nations dancers, diving dogs, gadget peddlers, high-flying acrobats, and midway entertainers have all hit their stride and are bracing themselves for a furious sprint to the closing weekend, hoping the holiday rush will bring out the biggest crowds.

As great as the New York State Fair is, you can’t have everything, especially in this troubled year.

Vendors and workers are laboring furiously to get ready, hoping that crowds will swarm the grounds when the gates open on Friday. Some of your favorite features will be ready for the spotlight, but some won’t. Below is a list of some hits and misses as it now stands.

By now, you probably know that some of the event’s most popular food stands will not be open. Those include Baker Chicken, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Haddock’s Paddock, Danny D’s, Gianelli and Tully’s. There will, however, be plenty of places to feed your Fair food obsession, among them P-Z-O’s, Basilio, Pizze Fritte, King David’s, Strong Hearts, Butcher Boys, Horan, JJ’s and a few new places.

All of the major buildings that surround Chevy Court Square will be open with some modifications. The Horticulture Building’s maple stand and other exhibits will return, though the kosher food stand will not.

Center of Progress will host vendors, though fewer and more widely-spaced. The sand sculpture has moved to the Expo Center.

You can view the butter sculpture and buy milk in the Dairy Building.

While the Art and Home Center will be open, the Empire Theatre will stay dark. The demonstration kitchen and the model trains will also be absent, though the model circus will be on display. The fine arts exhibit moves to the first floor. Vaccination shots will be available in the Martha Eddy Room.

In terms of other buildings, the Youth Building will be closed as 4-H is not participating in the 2021 State Fair. The Agriculture Museum, the Carriage Museum and the Grange Building will be locked up as they are small buildings with limited ventilation. Since they have limited access, checking vaccination status at entrances could have worked, but the Fair didn’t make that choice. The wool center will also be closed.

Over 50 national acts will perform concerts, two most days on each the Chevy Park (New York Experience) stage and at Chevy Court.

The Exposition Center will open to host the sand sculpture, a mural creation and a military aircraft exhibit.

Juggler extraordinaire Hilby and one-man band Bandoloni will perform, though not for all days of the Fair.

Most farm animals will be represented, with horse shows in the Coliseum, cows in the dairy barn (though not the first few days), goats, llamas and beef cattle. Missing are pigs, rabbits and sheep.

There will be a full slate of traditional dances in the historic Iroquois Village. The Talent Showcase stage will host some Latino Festival performances, but no talent competitions.

The classic train exhibit will host visitors trackside and Hawk Creek Wildlife Center will teach us about their regal birds of prey in the State Parks area. Circus Hollywood will entertain daily under the big top.

While it won’t quite live up to the revered traditions of past Fairs, there are plenty of reasons to go out for the return of the New York State Fair.