While the exhibition of livestock goes back to the origin of the New York State Fair, the passing of years brings alternative viewpoints when it comes to the role of animals at the Fair. As planning begins for the 2024 edition, serious discussion about animal welfare issues would be in order.

During the Fair, a letter was published in the Post-Standard and syracuse.com that questioned the ethics of the Dairy Cow Live Birthing Center. Representatives of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in Ulster County criticized the treatment of the cows and the practice of prematurely separating babies from their from mothers, claiming to have over 10,000 signatures on a petition seeking to have the Birthing Center discontinued.

Their concerns seem valid. Those days-old calves are adorable and Fair visitors certainly enjoy seeing them, but it would seem that a state that touts its dairy farming industry would demonstrate greater sensitivity in its care of cows and calves.

When it comes down to it, we should also be considering whether featuring animals in a petting zoo and a sea lions show meet humane standards. Fair administration should be mindful of humanitarian concerns regarding both livestock and wild animal acts in applying both judgement and compassion.

One idea would be to appoint knowledgeable staff to assess conditions for animals on the grounds and make recommendations regarding their treatment. When legitimate concerns are raised, the Fair has a responsibility to issue a public response and make changes if necessary.

As the 2023 New York State Fair fades into the post-Labor Day sunset, there are plenty of memories, mostly good ones.

Attendance surged to over 900,000, strengthened by mostly decent weather, though showers dampened several days and Labor Day weekend got pretty hot.

There was a nice balance of new features and established favorites. As expected, the Dinosaur Expedition was a monstrous hit and Lady Houdini made an exciting debut. Juggling the schedule to spotlight the Groovy Guy early in the Fair was a good idea as the wisecracking, rope-walking entertainer put on a fun show to hold the fort until Hilby arrived to large crowds midway through the Fair.

The concert lineup gave most fans little reason to attend. If Fair organizers aspire a return to attendance totals exceeding a million, they should start with more diversity at the major stages.

Traffic control was generally OK and parking went smoother than in past years. Of course, amp shows tortured drivers, while temporary closures of the orange lot were infuriating for Fair patrons. Both of those things need to change.

Cultural variety seems to be a winning strategy as the Iroquois welcomed returning crowds to their quaint reservation and the colorful Pan African Village grows year-to-year. The Latino Village came to life for the second half of this year, while the new Asian Village will need time to develop and grow, although it already excels in availability of delicious vegetarian food, something that can be tough to find at the Fair.

It was great to see those spunky kids back on the Talent Showcase stage. The experience of competing means a lot to the youngsters, like the dancer pictured here who touchingly dedicated her performance to her recently-deceased father.

As always, there were many food choices, this year adding such creative new entries as the Peanut Butter Paradise at Tommy C’s, Omanii’s vegetarian sandwich and several new Toss & Fire pies. The best way to keep cool on Labor Day was by slurping a fruity Italian Ice from Our Vegan Corner.

Meanwhile, food stand changes continued, though the renovation of the street outside the dairy cattle barn was underwhelming. Daniella’s Steakhouse consolidated to its Art and Home Center venue, allowing Beak and Skiff 1911 to take over the large space inside gate 4. Tully’s new stand is beautiful, better than their food.

Vendor participation was noticeably depressed in several areas, particularly in the Horticulture Building and the Eatery, where vacancies stood out. Several outdoor spots were also wide open spaces, especially the yard in front of the Youth Building, which is begging for a large show venue. It would be a great location for a performing dog act, something that has been missing for years, although they never fail to draw large crowds. Maybe it’s time to suspend the Sea Lions Splash which is really dull show featuring adorable stars.

While some visitors complain that the Fair never changes, there’s always something new to enjoy and things you don’t see anywhere else. The sand sculpture never fails to amaze, you can come within a few feet of Hawk Creek’s inspiring birds of prey and this year a kid was seen walking on the midway with his emotional-support snake.

For just six bucks, it’s a sensational ride.

State Fair Hound has lots more reaction–what was great and what needs to be better–in upcoming posts. We’ll follow that with plans for tweaks to our own coverage for 2024 and beyond. Meanwhile, we thank our readers for letting us cover the New York State Fair the Hound’s way.

The temporary closing of the orange parking lot midday on Aug. 25 should infuriate drivers who needed parking to attend the New York State Fair. The lot was closed to traffic for a few hours in order to assure that fans heading out to the amphitheater would be able to pull into one of the narrow spaces that evening.

Did you get that? People going to the Fair were inconvenienced, perhaps significantly, to accommodate the misplaced, ill-conceived concert venue. Thus the question of why there are amp shows held during the 13-day run of the Fair becomes more mystifying.

It’s bad enough that evening State Fair traffic is catastrophically impacted several times each year, now people can’t even plan on that huge parking lot being available for the Fair as intended when it was paved at great expense to taxpayers.

We know that it’s pointless to expect the promoter to hold off on shows. They care nothing about Fair patrons and not much more about their own concert ticket holders if there’s money to be made. But state and/or county government officials have to step in and demand suspension of concerts during that Fair. There will still be plenty of dates to book shows at the amp, so holding off for two weeks is the best plan for fans of both the concerts and the Fair.

Just do it.

The recently-reported kerfuffle resulting in the withdrawal from the New York State Fair of the Carol Baldwin Fund and its pink recycling bins is more evidence of the Fair being hamstrung by political nitwits and incompetent bureaucrats in Albany. Newschannel 9 aired an interview by reporter Andrew Donovan with Executive Director Elizabeth Baldwin, who was clearly exasperated by what she termed  “non-communication and mistreatment” by the state. The cancer-fighting agency’s annual booth in the Science and Industry building will also be absent.

There’s been no comment from the state, but take it from The Hound, this mess oozed right out of Albany. Decades of experience covering the Fair have made it clear that this type of stupidity is always forced upon Fair administrators by overzealous lawyers and political hacks. The director and his team can’t say so if they want to stay employed, but we’d bet you a two-dollar bottle of tap water (thanks, Albany) that is the case.

Will reporters on the scene when the Gov shows up, perhaps on opening day, ask her about the needless meddling that made a simple operation benefiting a very worthwhile cause into an impenetrable tangle of red tape.? More important, will she answer? Probably not.

Someone should remind the politburo that this event belongs to us. Nobody asked regular folks what they think about bureaucratic meddling chasing this important fundraiser off the Fairgrounds. But they should already know the answer.

State Fair Hound readers have read many posts advocating for careful planning of your trip to the New York State Fair before going . No doubt, it greatly enhances your chances of maximizing your enjoyment once you enter the grounds.

Well, Fair fans, it’s time to start planning as the Fair has posted daily schedules for the 2023 edition on the official website. Many favorite features from years past will return. Here are some highlights:

Sea Lion Splash will be back in the Family Fun Zone, having made a triumphant return last year after an absence of several years.

The awe-inspiring Hawk Creek Wildlife Center birds of prey are winging in for what has become an perennial favorite with Fair patrons of all ages.

The small-but-mighty Circus Hollywood will be back with big-time, big-top entertainment. A petting zoo and the racing pigs will come along.

Steve Trash, the eco-magician is getting an encore on the small Empire Theater stage in the Art and Home center after a successful run last year.

The cast of wandering entertainers is headlined by the inimitable Hilby, the Skinny German Juggle Boy. He will perform daily from Tuesday, Aug. 29 through Labor Day. Also strolling the grounds will be one-man band Bandoloni, Rock-It the Robot and the Strolling Piano.

You already know that realistic, mechanical dinosaurs will inhabit the Exposition Center throughout the Fair. Also new this year are Lady Houdini–predictably enough an escape artist and magician like her namesake and the Groovy Guy, a juggler with a sense of humor.

The best news is that all of the entertainers named above are free for everyone who passes through the gates of the 2023 New York State Fair.

There will be notable infrastructure changes this year–more on that in a later post on State Fair Hound.

A recent article posted on the news website Current Central (If you’re not a reader, you should be) has inspired The Hound to once again bark up a favorite tree.

Reporter Chris Libonati writes that Onondaga County Exec Ryan McMahon is considering the possibility of implementing bus rapid and light rail as local transportation options. In terms of our perhaps- fanciful idea for use during the New York State Fair, we’ll focus on the light rail. Our understanding is that it would be a local-use train providing quick trips for commuters who may otherwise be driving a personal vehicle or taking a bus.

Libonati compares the rail plan to the OnTrack train routes that ran from 1994 to 2008. That train didn’t roll to the Fairgrounds, but it sure would be great to have that option. Driving and parking in Fair lots can be slow and frustrating, especially on high-attendance days and when a concert at the Amp complicates the approach.

It seems that the use of a train to deliver customers to the Fair would provide a fun, fast option that would keep cars off I-690 and State Fair Boulevard while freeing up space in parking lots. Amtrack trains already stop at the mini-depot near the racing stables to drop off passengers from neighboring towns, so we wonder if they could also bring folks from downtown and Syracuse suburbs.

As The Hound advocated in Slow Roll (Sep. 15, 2019), taking a local train to the Fair would add some fun and convenience to the trip, which would be better than navigating the massive traffic jams that often leave us exiting our cars exasperated. There are many tracks that run past the Fairgrounds and trains–mostly freight trains–roll by frequently.

Maybe the Fair should partner with County officials to put the Fairgrounds in the loop, literally of the light rail plan, putting Fair commuters on track for a smoother ride. It would be a major project, but linking it to the proposed light rail system makes it seem possible.

The recent booking of country-style crooner Lee Greenwood to play Chevy Court at the 2023 New York State Fair is disturbing in that the Fair is calling his Armed Forces Day appearance “patriotic.” Greenwood has tried to sell himself as a great patriot by hyping his syrupy ballad, “God Bless the USA.” One song does not a patriot make, especially when the singer has repeatedly cozied up to the treasonous political pariah who brought you ethnic hatred, shady deals, election fraud, a boatload of self-serving lies and an attempted coup.

No true patriot would stand on stage in support of Mango Mussolini. Flag waving and lyrics claiming to “love this land” ring hollow in the presence of  the most corrupt president in American history. It’s appalling that, just as some of this demagogue’s supporters call themselves Christians, Greenwood calls himself a patriot.

It’s fair to wonder how the honorees on Armed Forces Day feel about Greenwood’s hero, the guy who wants to pardon the hundreds of convicted felons who brutally attacked law enforcement officers and trashed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Don’t forget that the draft-dodging, former psychopath-in-chief called military personnel “Losers.”

Greenwood doesn’t even need this gig. He can get plenty of work playing rallies for his favorite future inmate. If the Fair wants to bring him in to sing his bland repertoire, they certainly can. Just don’t be fooled into thinking that his most famous song makes him a patriot. He’s far from it.

It’s not surprising that the news from the Gov’s budget address generating the most response in the neighborhoods surrounding Geddes is her plan to increase prices at the New York State Fair. Contrary to the view expressed by one lunkhead who trashed the Fair in a letter to the Post-Standard, local folks love it and express their intense interest and strong opinions without prompting.

Last year’s $3 admission seemed artificially low, so doubling up to six bucks is no big deal. Considering all you get inside the gates without spending another dime, it’s a tremendous bargain and would be even at a higher price.

Parking has been $5 for many years, so an increase doesn’t seem unreasonable, though twice the old price is a bit of a jolt. In order to make it worth the cost, the State Fair brain trust has to improve the parking experience for customers. It’s a process that has been begging for an upgrade for decades.

The first thing they should do is improve efficiency of the parking staff to expedite the flow of incoming traffic. Too often lines filing into the lots are unnecessarily slow, sometimes painfully slow, as too many attendants just stand around instead of hustling to process cars. While we shouldn’t be too tough on the generally-young folks who hold down those 13-day jobs in the lots, a little supervision and organization would certainly be in order. There needs to be a little more urgency and greater focus on customer service.

For $10, patrons have a right to expect expeditious processing, which may include more EZ Pass lanes. And they should discontinue the ridiculous no-cash policy, which can also cause delays when  technology glitches slow things down.

The massive brown lot is in poor condition as it floods extensively in rainy weather, while it becomes a dust bowl when it’s hot and dry. The additional revenue from the price increase could be put to use smoothing things out, literally.

You would expect that Centro would see an increase in ridership for State Fair shuttles, but their current driver shortage may strain the process, negating any possible benefit. The Hound still thinks rail service would be a terrific option (Slow Roll, 9/15/19), but it doesn’t seem to be in the plans.

When you come down to it, increases in fees for vendors and exhibitors will likely have the most impact on enjoyment of the Fair as some businesses may not return, deciding the cost is too high, while others will hike prices for Fair customers.