Since you’re reading a blog about the New York State Fair, you probably think that the longer the Fair runs, the better. But there are some issues that make it seem that extending its run from 13 to 18 days is a questionable decision, especially this year.

For starters, a significant number of the food stands, vendors and exhibitors have cited the difficulty of staffing their operations for 18 days as a reason that they won’t be participating this year. It’s logical to expect that having workers on hand for 13 days would have been tough this year, since many year-round businesses, especially restaurants, have found retaining  adequate numbers of employees challenging. So six more days have made it impossible for some Fair vendors.

The 18-day plan was hatched before anyone ever heard of that damned virus and even then it sounded ambitious. Fair Director Troy Waffner has been quoted in print as saying that his team has been stressed in getting ready on short notice, having had to wait for the green light from the Gov before getting all of the prep work–and there’s a ton of prep work–underway. Once again, the additional days had to make it that much harder.

For a Fair that only expanded to 13 days in 2017, the addition of six days requires accommodation by everyone from vendors and exhibitors to seasonal staff to the State Police. You can be certain that Fair administrators didn’t commit to the lengthening until they got an assurance that Wade Shows, provider of the midway rides and attractions, could service 18 days.

That’s something that wouldn’t have happened if our Fair was still hiring the James E. Strates Shows to provide thrills because for many years Strates played the Erie County Fair, near Buffalo, closing there  just a few days before the show opened in Syracuse. This year the Erie Fair runs Aug. 11 through Aug. 22, its last three days overlapping the State Fair. With Wade as midway operator, the carnival portion won’t be an issue, but that’s not the case for other vendors and exhibitors, who have in years past played out there before packing up and traveling down the thruway to set up here.

One veteran Fair food vendor told State Fair Hound that he had talked to some business people who had told him that they were feeling squeezed by the conflict and had to make some tough decisions. That source wondered why the State would decide to go for 18 without taking into account the ramifications for the many participants who work multiple fairs.

That would been a problem in any year, but 2021 isn’t just any year. We’ve also heard indirectly from a vendor who’s pulling out complaining about state regulations being a headache for owners doing business on the grounds.

Then, you have to wonder how Fair patrons will respond to the extension, coupled with the lower admission price of three bucks with seniors free every day. Will people attend on more days or spread out their attendance over 18 days, going basically as they traditionally have done in fewer days? If the new enticements don’t produce a significant boost in business, everyone affiliated with the Fair will be disappointed and there will be some serious second-guessing about whether, in the case of the New York State Fair, more is better.

Every year it’s a massive job to put together the plan for staging the New York State Fair. Our 375-acre blank canvas is transformed into a masterpiece by late August to welcome over a million visitors for an event that may be similar to other states’ fairs, but is singularly ours.

 The 2021 edition will also be different from any previous New York event for several reasons. It will be the first Fair we’ve had extend beyond 13 days, the new 18-day format beginning a year later than anticipated.

The reason for the delay–you know what that is–adds another layer of complications on top of all of the usual challenges faced by Waffner and Company. It sure seems that the most difficult obstacle to a smooth-running festival is that decisions have to be made several weeks prior to opening day despite the constantly moving target of what can go on as usual and what needs to be significantly modified.

A little straight talk is in order regarding health precautions that may limit or eliminate some Fair activities. To summarize the view from here, State Fair Hound humbly suggests a slogan for this year–“Come to the Fair. It you catch COVID, it’s your own damn fault.”

Really, by Aug. 20 there’s no reason everyone can’t be vaccinated, with the possible exception of the very rare few folks who have a medical reason to avoid it. So let’s not let those lunkheads who refuse to take a simple and safe precaution screw it up for those of who are behaving responsibly. Look around–everything is being normalized as infection rates fall. Recently schools have been approved to admit students with few or no restrictions, so it’s time to give the Fair the green light to go full speed.

One change that seems set is the shift of major concerts from Chevrolet Court to  the Chevrolet Music Festival Stage, formerly know as the Experience Stage. No big deal there–it’s been headed that way for a few years now, though there isn’t a logical reason why vaccinated fans can’t sit shoulder-to-shoulder wherever the show is staged. Not vaccinated? See the new slogan.

There’s been talk of moving toward a mostly outdoor event, keeping most buildings closed. Patrons who had their shots should have no worries going indoors to get a baked potato, gawk at the sand sculpture or line up for chocolate milk. Didn’t get yours? See the new slogan.

Attending indoor entertainment like the horse shows in the Coliseum, Agriculture Museum exhibits, youth projects, calf births, cooking demos, gardening shows or the ever-popular gadget vendors should likewise be no problem. You’re vaccinated, aren’t you? If not, see the new slogan.

You get the idea. Hey, if you want to wear a mask, go for it. But it’s time for those in control of government, business and entertainment venues to stop playing meddlesome mother to a population that has made its own decisions regarding what should be an obvious choice.

Let’s hope the powers in state government give our Fair planners approval for the show to go on as usual. Then, let’s all go to the Fair prepared to have a great time. The new slogan speaks for itself.

A recent article in the Syracuse Post-Standard served as a study in contrast compared to an act at the 2019 New York State Fair. The article documented the shameful slaughter of  over 1700 black bears by sadistic hunters in the Empire State.

Fair fans saw similar animals in the presentation of Bearadise Ranch at the Fair. While The Hound has been critical of shows featuring wild animals, at least the folks at Bearadise Ranch have some measure of respect and affection for these formidable ursine New Yorkers.

Meanwhile heavily-armed jerks get their demented kicks by going into wilderness areas to kill them as a sick form of entertainment.

Of course, bears aren’t the only critters on New York’s list of wildlife victims, all sanctioned by our own so-called Department of Environmental Conservation. When you see the DEC bureaucrats at this year’s Fair, ask them why they allow such appalling carnage, supported by your tax dollars. Don’t accept their ludicrous excuse that it somehow benefits the animals. That’s total bear shit.

Meanwhile the Post-Standard, particularly reporter David Figura, glorifies these bloodthirsty idiots with publicity, so they’re complicit in this disgusting cruelty.

Singer Charley Pride was famous for being the first. Country music’s first African-American superstar broke a lot of ground over a 50-plus year career as one of the most beloved entertainers in the nation’s history, culminating in his being enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame and winning a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

New Yorkers will also remember Pride, who died Dec. 12, as the first act to perform a concert on the stage of the New York State Fair grandstand, back in 1969, as documented by the captioned photo on display in the Fair history exhibit.

In remembering Pride, it is a common mistake to call him a great black singer, just as it would be to call Hank Aaron a great black baseball player or Viola Davis a great black actress. Greatness knows no race and country music radio fans were already cheering Pride’s expressive baritone before they discovered that the Mississippi native was African-American.

As much as that barrier needed to be broken, Charley Pride always downplayed his race and his role as a pioneer in the white-dominated industry. Though there was early reluctance on the part of some fans to accept him, his character, warmth and charisma, as much as his distinctive voice, won them over and elevated him to the upper echelon of his profession.

Pride had cracked the top ten on Billboard’s country chart eight times when he played the State Fair and his appearance there was an early indicator that fans would fill the trackside bleachers for popular acts as they did many times over the ensuing four decades.

But as so often was the case, the inimitable Charley Pride was the first.

Driving past the New York State Fairgrounds these days is a painful experience.

The 2020 Fair should be beyond the halfway point, heading into the homestretch with Labor Day weekend in sight. Instead, entrances are are locked up, the parking lots empty, the grounds abandoned.

There’s no sign of the explosion of excitement and joy that normally makes this our favorite time of year. The Governor thinks we had to cancel this year’s Fair to spare our citizens widespread and dangerous exposure to that damn virus.

If this were some other part of the country, he’d be right.

But local folks have made the sacrifices necessary to keep infection totals very low. We deserved a chance at some form of the Fair experience by employing the same cautious practices that we’ve been following to make New York a national leader in reducing cases.

Due to this controversial decision, made by one man, we aren’t currently enjoying those majestic buildings, gyrating rides, gleeful kids and amazing critters. Your nose isn’t breathing in frying peppers, prize flowers, decomposing hay or greasy funnel cakes. There’s no music, no excited screams, no sizzling sausages.

Happier days are ahead, no doubt. But it’s over 350 days until those gates swing open for the 2021 New York State Fair. Meanwhile, disconsolate Fair fans, financially devastated business owners and idled workers are left to contemplate what might have been.

Carnival companies and fair vendors have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and shutdown, just as thousands of businesses have. But they haven’t all completely closed up shop. The website of the Wade Shows, provider of the midway rides and games for the New York State Fair, lists a reduced, but existing number of fairs still scheduled.

In fact, the Delaware State Fair opened its 10-day run on July 23 with Wade providing the midway. According to the Delaware State Fair’s website, they’ve made significant changes to procedures. Their entire concert schedule was canceled and safety protocols are in force.

Meanwhile the Tennessee and North Carolina State Fairs were late scratches, while Wade is still booked for the Nebraska State Fair from Aug. 28 to Sep. 7 as well as several other major festivals in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. They’re going forward while maximizing caution, hoping no doubt, that it won’t lead to a spike in covid-19 cases.

Ultimately, those fairs may or may not go on. New York seems at this point to have a better grip on the outbreak than most other states. So if at least some states are successful in holding their event without major consequence, it will validate second guessing of Gov. Cuomo’s decision to cancel rather than   instituting precautions and forging ahead.

Given its timing and proximity to New York, a review of the Delaware Fair will be most instructive in analyzing whether the closing of the New York State Fair was justified. We’ll take a look at a later date.

Shopping malls open Friday with the approval of the State.

The Hound is wondering how shopping with throngs of people indoors meets safety standards, but food-stand dining, browsing the Iroquois Village, twirling on thrill rides and strolling around in the open air at the New York State Fair doesn’t.

Fair Director Troy Waffner told local media outlets that his staff is planning for some events to give devastated Fair fans a taste of the fun they’re missing with the Fair canceled this year.

While many deride the decision to close–rightly so–let’s hope there is some redemption in those promised activities.

New York’s dictatorial governor announced on Monday that he is killing the 2020 New York State Fair.

New Yorkers who have sacrificed tremendously and lost much to the current health crisis are devastated by the unwarranted surrender of our greatest event.

The facts support the substantial progress New York has made, especially upstate where the Fair is staged annually. The opportunity to hold the festival mostly outdoors made it possible to minimize the risk to patrons and workers (See Out of the Box, June 27). But Cuomo lacks the vision and will to fashion the modified-but-fun event so badly needed by deprived and depressed citizens.

Politically, Cuomo values his image as our savior, drawing a stark contrast to the psychopath in the White House when it comes to pandemic response. But we’ll all pay the price emotionally and economically for a canceled Fair.

We can just sit around the house wearing masks forever, but that’s no way to live. While there’s no justifying reckless disregard for the undeniable risks, careful planning can make the Fair relatively safe, just as it has allowed movement toward normal life in so many areas without significant negative affect.

Labor Day will arrive on time and it will be tough to face without having had the State Fair to soften the blow of summer ending. Maybe Chevy Court concerts and elbow-to-elbow crowded buildings were too risky, but a modified Fair was possible, if only the Gov had made the effort.

Devotees of the New York State Fair were troubled this week to hear our illustrious governor express doubt that the Fair can open this year because of the pandemic. Come on Andy, the classic, traditional State Fair may be a long shot, but there are provisions that could be made to allow some form of the Fair to open and we deserve your best effort to make sure it does. In terms of ideas, the Hound, as always, has some.

First, a limit on attendance could be set by selling tickets that are date-specific, capping the number sold for any given day. That way, you would never have 100,000 people attending on one day. The maximum attendance number would be regulated by the number of tickets sold or distributed for each day of the Fair, thus reducing person-to-person contact to lessen possible virus spread.

Next, take advantage of the outdoor space on the grounds. There is data that shows that outdoor transmission of the virus is much less common than indoor. Thus, limiting or even eliminating much of the indoor activity significantly reduces risk. Some of the indoor exhibits and attractions could be moved outdoors, perhaps under tents. That could include Center of Progress vendors, Horticulture Building displays, Science and Industry Building health agencies, Youth Building exhibitors and others.

What about the enormously popular sand sculpture and butter sculpture? You couldn’t do those outdoors, but how about the wide-open spaces of the Expo Center? Construct the statues in the middle of the building and route one-way traffic lines around them.

Speaking of lines, there could be traffic control set up throughout the grounds to reduces face-to-face contact. That includes outdoor food vendors. Dining alfresco is allowed in restaurants, so why not the Fair?

Livestock barns would need to be spaced out, with walkers limited to one-way lines around the stalls or cages.

Wades Shows would have a big job to keep rides sanitized, but you have to believe they could do it in order to keep their operation going and make a few bucks.

If absolutely necessary, the Fair could be delayed and held later, say September. But that’s about it, cold weather will be arriving, regardless of everything else changing.

No doubt, we would miss some of our favorite Fair features, but with planning, and modifications the Fair can be held. It’s worth the effort and sacrifices to make it happen. So save the depressing television interviews and get to work, Gov. There’s a State Fair to run.