The days are counting down to opening day–58 days away–and the ticking is growing louder. Still no word has come as to the fate of the 2020 New York State Fair. Does that mean there’s actually been no final decision on what will happen when Aug. 21 arrives? 

It certainly seems that if the Governor were planning to pull the plug–a major mistake, but possible–the time has come to say so. But the fact that he hasn’t cancelled would lead one to believe that he won’t. He can’t say that the situation is getting worse. To the credit of the hardworking public officials at various levels, medical pros and the cooperation of our citizens, Central New York has shown impressive progress in holding off the pandemic that many states see worsening.

If we saw more illnesses and more danger, there may be reason to take a drastic step. But if there hasn’t yet been reason to kill the dream, it doesn’t seem to be heading our way.

The Onondaga County Executive is even expressing optimism that the reopening will soon be expanded in our region.

Let’s stop avoiding the question and confirm that it’s time to get ready for another great Fair.

The days are ticking toward the scheduled opening of the 2020 New York State Fair. The Governor hasn’t said whether the State is planning to go forward, even as many county fairs, the Syracuse Nationals and countless other festivals have cancelled due to the health crisis.

Current data suggests that there’s a good chance that the Fair, slated to open on Aug. 21, can go on with minimal risk.

Consider this: Onondaga County, with a population of over 460,000 residents, has confirmed fewer than 2200 cases of coronavirus. That’s a very small number of cases for a county this size.

Of course, part of the reason for the low count is the tight restrictions that have helped to minimize the spread. On the other hand, those most vulnerable, especially nursing home patients, make up a disproportionately high number of the total count. The number on the streets is significantly lower.

With the entire region essentially shut down, the Fair hasn’t made any announcements in the past few weeks of acts booked for the Fair, especially at the major concert venues. Meanwhile, most concerts scheduled at other venues are postponed or canceled.

Some events have decided to hold “virtual” versions of themselves, though sometimes it’s completely ridiculous. Certainly some traditional Fair entertainment could be streamed on the website, while other events–a fireworks show, for instance–could be held live with people spaced far apart.

But a virtual Fair wouldn’t work. If you can’t stuff your face with fried food, pet a cow, watch the Iroquois dance or put your kids on rides, it’s not the State Fair.

The reaction of citizens to the phased reopening has been enthusiastic and it seems to be going well. People need to get out and enjoy life if it can be done in relative safety. That’s what the State Fair is all about and why it’s so important to let the show go on.

Analysis continues, but from The Hound’s perspective the New York State Fair, perhaps with modifications, is vital to the psyche of our community. Cancellation would be overly cautious and a devastating blow to the spirit of New York.

The governor is setting an excessively high bar for what it would take to be sure that the New York State Fair opens on time this year. His pessimism is infuriating, considering that opening day is still 16 weeks away, 17 weeks if they use the traditional opening day instead of going five days earlier as has been announced.

In The Hound’s view, the 2020 Fair must go on.

This whole pandemic mess has caused a lot of pain, most acutely experienced by those who have been infected, some tragically.That is understood. But can we really cancel the State Fair, which would likely be the final crushing blow to a community that may be coming out of a summer without restaurant dining, movies, beaches, festivals, sports and concerts?

There must be a way to rescue a little of the joy and spirit to which we all look forward every year. Of course, we’re all hoping for some breakthroughs on testing and treatment. Beyond that, creativity and intelligent planning must be employed to rescue this Fair. And they have to start now.

If Cuomo wants to get serious about getting ready for an August Fair opening, he could begin by cutting back on his daily marathon television appearance. He repeats himself consistently and takes much longer than necessary to get to a point. He could instead be working on a plan to get ready for the New York State Fair.

This year’s Fair could be radically different if necessary. It could be modified in length or size. Maybe some events would be cancelled, while some go on.

There may have to be adjustments and precautions, but 17 weeks is a long time to figure that out and prepare. The economic impact of the Fair on the State, particularly Central New York, is enormous. The vendors, the farmers, restaurateurs, temporary workers, musicians and the midway company all depend on those two weeks of booming business.

Just as important, people will likely be so emotionally hurting by August that they won’t be staying home regardless of what government leaders tell them. The will be desperate for activity and recreation and willing to accept some level of risk to save their sanity.

The New York Sate Fair is more than a festival. It’s an essential part of our community’s spirit and economy. Finding a way to make sure it goes on is a very difficult undertaking, but well worth it.

Our beloved New York State Fairgrounds is pretty much a ghost town these days with all activities closed down. As discouraging as the current health crisis is, this is a good time to remember great times in Geddes and to look ahead to happier times for those of us who love the Fair.

At State Fair Hound, we invite you to settle down in a safe location, scroll back through previous posts and enjoy the photos and stories.

We wish you good health and a quick recovery from the trials of this difficult time while we look forward to our next State Fair. We also send thoughts to those who entertain us, serve us that great Fair food and lift our spirits every summer as businesses nationwide struggle. See you soon.

The massive Exposition Center that opened on the grounds of the New York State Fair in 2018 has proven a major success with off-season bookings of a wide variety of events and shows. It certainly appears to be well on its way to justifying the $62 million cost of construction. As the largest venue of its kind in this region of the US, it has consistently attracted promoters who need the versatility and wide open spaces it provides. This weekend, for instance, the annual alpaca show will move in for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, Fair planners are still experimenting with how to use it during the 13-day Fair run, this year laying out a turf field for soccer and lacrosse where the ice rink had been in its debut season.

As noted in earlier posts, it’s also a popular respite from hot or rainy weather and a comfortable resting spot for tired Fair visitors. But there must be a way to take advantage of its cavernous size and versatility beyond what’s been done so far.

It would be a nice spot for the Coronas Circus, currently performed under the traditional, but often unbearably hot, big top. But Fair brass is reluctant to bring in a lot of animals, who undoubtedly would do what animals do, in the nice clean hall.

It would seems that a performance venue of some sort would be the logical choice. Maybe it’s just a matter of finding the right act(s).

Meanwhile, it’s been announced that the Winter Fair event that debuted successfully last year will return Feb 7 through 9 with rides, food and entertainment. Watch for details in coming weeks.

By the way, if you go to see the alpacas on Saturday, stop by and lend your support to the Spay it Forward event in the Science and Industry Building. It’s great chance to help out needy animals in a fun way.

Now a month after the wrap-up of a record run of the New York State Fair, wonderful memories of a dazzling 13 days are tainted somewhat by backed-up traffic leading to bulging parking lots creating headaches at peak times.

You sure can’t criticize Fair management for doing all they can to attract as many patrons as possible. Certainly  every vendor on the grounds wants to see as many potential customers as they can get. While the recently-expanded grounds can handle having 100,000-plus attend, it’s increasingly clear that the parking lots have their limits and that exceeding those limits creates significant pain for those attending the Fair.

The Willis Avenue lot was added to ease the crunch. It’s a good idea to add spaces, but Willis Ave. is a two-lane street with one entrance to the lot, so you have to expect backed up traffic on busy days. And since it’s a mile from the main gate, they needed to shuttle patrons down the boulevard to gate 6, about 1 1/2 miles away, thus adding to the crush passing the gates. Adding another access point to the lot would be a great idea, if it’s possible.

Speaking of gate 6, buses entering there from the orange lot or the off-site lots drove down to the new drop-off spot, which was something less than a resounding success this year. But remember that it was the first year for a new system, one designed to increase safety.

File it under the heading of growing pains and hope for future improvement after some adjustments.

Improved efficiency of parking staff would help and more parking space is certainly needed as lots sometimes reached capacity, making for a disastrous situation. There may be ways to increase the number of lots as Willis Avenue did this year.

Where and how are the big questions, but we have to hope something can be worked out. .

Some media and customer commentary reviewing the 2019 New York State Fair have expressed frustration with state officials moving the goalposts in terms of admission prices.

Pre-Fair publicity listed criteria for free admission for various categories of patrons–seniors, students, military and others–while reduced admission prices for everyone were available on numerous days.

If you didn’t qualify for a free pass and it was a regular-admission day, you had the option of buying advance sale tickets for $6 instead of paying full price, $10 at the gate.

But after the Fair’s 13-day run began, the Cuomo crew announced more one-dollar days, rendering some of those advance tickets less valuable.

To counter the complaint that those tickets weren’t a bargain anymore, the Fair will accept them next year. But there have been some suggestions that admission should be standardized at a fixed price, perhaps as low as one dollar.

It seems likely that internal discussion of price practices will be held during the off-season with changes possible. That’s fine, but State Fair Hound places another consideration higher than consistent pricing. While the actual exchange of cash to gain entry to the Fair is the most obvious way to look at value, the more important method has to include a look at what you get for your money.

When you consider the bonanza of free entertainment available inside the Fair gates, you get tremendous value for you money, even if you pay $10 to get in. There are so many attractions and shows that are included in your admission price–starting with the incredible value of free concerts at Chevy Court and the Experience Stage–that whatever you pay to attend is dirt cheap.

Go ahead–research what you would pay for a concert by Bad Company, the Mavericks, Grace Potter or Gavin DeGraw at another venue and you will be happy to hand over $10 to hear them.

Then add up what you could pay elsewhere for the many acts available from Hilby to K-9s in Flight, Circus Hollywood to the International Horse Show. There’s terrific entertainment in every corner of the grounds, from the annual pageantry of the Iroquois Village to terrific new displays like the antique boats.

So much is free–listening to music at the Pan African Village and other small stages, getting close to the powerful birds of Hawk Creek, seeing the amazing sand sculpture or visiting the stately Agriculture Museum, even a ride around the perimeter on a tram. All without spending another dime.

There have been ticketed acts inside the grounds over the years and they never seemed to do particularly well with Fair patrons who have gotten used to being entertained for free.

It’s a great deal. So take advantage of free or reduced-price admission days, but recognize how much you get for your money and don’t complain if it’s a few bucks. It’s still a bargain.

Predictably, much of the public conversation and customer feedback after the record-setting 2019 New York State Fair has centered around issue of getting there, negotiating parking lots and accessing internal modes of travel.

The high point–or low point, depending on how you look at it–was day 11, Saturday, Aug. 31. It was expected that completely unmanageable traffic jams would occur that day, though record attendance of 147,749 was a mild surprise.

The reasons for the massive throng that converged on the Fairgrounds were obvious as the Saturday before Labor Day is always one of the best attended, unless the weather is terrible. Not only was the weather lovely, there were major concerts at both Chevy Court and the Experience Stage and the first Syracuse University football game of the season was being screened inside the Expo Center.

The annual fireworks display, traditionally saved for Labor Day, exploded overhead that night (though 10 p.m. was way too late for most). In addition, admission had been cut to one dollar for everyone and parking in the new Willis Ave. lot was free until the lot was filled.

Of course the nitwits who run the Lakeview Amphitheater had to book a popular show that night, something that surely made a bad situation worse. That practice has to stop and it looks like Onondaga County government officials (looking at you County Exec McMahon) have to intervene to make sure it does.

State Fair Hound readers can’t say they weren’t warned. The Hound recommended early arrival to avoid the inevitable traffic mess (Dawn Patrol, Aug. 30, 2019).

Angry visitors made comments on local television news shows and sent critical letters to the daily newspaper. Reporters asked Fair Director Troy Waffner tough questions, many about the accommodations for disabled people and the new bus drop-off location at gate 10.

Though the parking changes and the traffic jam are related, there are at least two primary issues one the table–how to get all those people there and how to park and process them once they arrive.

Barring major land acquisition to allow more entry points, which seems extremely unlikely, it’s hard to see how driving directly to Fair parking lots can be changed to accommodate such high volume. There are only so many lanes coming in.

The time has come for an innovative approach advocated by State Fair Hound, utilizing nearby railroad tracks to bring customers in by local trains. Yeah, it’s seems complicated, labor-intensive and probably expensive. But it would not only provide a route to the gates for thousands of passengers, it could actually be another attraction for the Fair–a fast, fun, exciting, accessible way around gridlocked roads and overheated engines, not to mention overheated drivers.

Trains do bring passengers from out-of-town stations–as the train in the top photo is doing–so why not bring passengers from downtown, Liverpool, DeWitt and other nearby communities on rail lines? There’s a platform near Gate 11 and a tram stop at the corner.

Of course, patrons who arrive by rail don’t take up space in on-site parking lots.

That bubbling mini-train that navigated Broadway this year may have provided a hint for future Fair travel. Let’s follow up on it.

Thanks to the ridiculous water monopoly policy, this price list from the New York State Fair potato stand shows the price for a bottle of tap water higher than that of juice, milk or soda.

Maybe it’s a good idea to submit a comment telling Fair management how you feel about it.

State Fair Hound readers may have felt a little deja vu when they read an editorial in Sunday’s Post-Standard about the traffic and parking issues that continue to plague the New York State Fair. Not only is the theme a familiar one in Hound posts, the P-S even included the following comment: “… the fair risks becoming the punchline of Yogi Berra’s joke: Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

You have read that before right here on Oct. 4, 2018 in a post titled “Was Yogi Right?”

It could be a coincidence, but either way, it’s good to keep the conversation going about how to make a trip to the State Fair less difficult on busy days.

As always, State Fair Hound has some ideas to share, so watch for that here in coming days and maybe later in the Post-Standard.