Friday is Pride Day at the new York State Fair, so you may hear loud and obnoxious hate speech as one local moron exercises his right to free speech near the main gate.

Just a reminder–a wise person once said that the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. With that in mind, give this dimwit the deaf ear he richly deserves.

Accordingly, State Fair Hound won’t be publishing a photo of the jerk, but for some reason, this one seems appropriate.

When the New York State Fair announced a Chevy Court act for the Sunday night prior to Labor Day–considered a marquee show each year–it was a departure from tradition. The performer on that night, often one of the Fair’s best-attended, will be a young man who calls his act “A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie,” not exactly your mainstream major star. For many years the Stan Colella Stage was more likely to spotlight da cowboy in da Stetson, da rocker in da ripped jeans or even da crooner wid a pearl necklace than da rapper in da hoodie.  

This booking joins a long list of conversions that are remaking the Fair, squeezing out some of the old traditions to bring our beloved annual festival into the high-tech new millennium.

There’s no denying that the Fair is keeping one foot in the past, characterized by exhibits centered around thriving agriculture, the outdoor spirit of the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks and Empire State history from Haudenosaunee homeland to the Erie Canal to interstates and skyscrapers.

But beyond recent Fairgrounds infrastructure updates that paved over the venerable track of the Syracuse Mile to make way for the muscular posts of the Broadway Skyliner, the Fair has experienced an attitude adjustment, taking on a glitzier, 21st century personality. Makeovers are really nothing new, as the Fair’s Grange-Building history exhibit documents the fact that changes have remade the Fair in many ways over its 177-year run.

Some longtime Fair aficionados actually miss the character of the aging wooden food stands that lined the trackside fence or the dilapidated grandstand that served for decades as the Fair’s main concert venue. Campers inhabiting the new, neatly- manicured RV village may fondly recall waking up in the massive, but rustic infield after a night spent hearing echoes of music from the big stage or the roar of motorsports kicking up dirt-track dust.

Those nostalgia buffs are balanced by patrons who have long complained that the Fair changes too little from year to year. That group has embraced the new day dawning in Geddes where admission tickets are now computer-scanned at gates. To them, it’s progress seeing trams towed by state-of-the-art pick-up trucks instead of belching tractors and they love receiving cell phone text alerts when a calf arrives in the cow-birthing tent.

Clearly, which change to consider an improvement is a matter of perspective, though some updates–the reborn main gate for instance–likely have universal approval. Regardless of how you view the dichotomy of today’s Fair, there is a symmetry as most of the action takes place between the retro-style main buildings and colonnade at the eastern end and the shiny new Exposition Center at the western.

Likewise, while young hip-hoppers have found space in the Chevy Court line-up, there’s still plenty of room for the classic performers who carry Medicare cards. And it’s all magic to the generation of kids who will someday look back at State Fair 2018 as a great childhood memory.

There are plenty of bargains to be found at the New York State Fair, but this year one of the best will be eliminated. A news report by Andrew Donovan on Channel 9 revealed a change for 2018 that is certain to draw criticism from patrons and create problems for vendors. According to that report, which included comments from Acting Director Troy Waffner, all bottled water sold on the grounds this year will have to be Pepsi’s Aquafina brand and vendors will have to charge two dollars per bottle.

Up to now there has been competition for water sales, with different vendors selling various brands, often for a buck apiece. Donovan interviewed State Fair Essentials’ Casey Stock, who lamented the decision, which will prevent his General Store stand from selling Poland Springs water for one dollar. Water had been their best seller, but Stock fears that this could hurt sales.

The change is part of a deal between Pepsi and the Fair and Waffner said the Fair wants to see how much water is sold and to assure consistency and quality while putting the State Fair logo on water bottled in New York. But it’s a bad deal for customers and sellers alike. Certainly PepsiCo will make a bundle and Syracuse.com reported that the Fair will get a one-dollar kickback on each 24-bottle case sold.

Fair visitors have found it easy to buy one-dollar water as a healthy choice and a vital one on hot days. It’s also noteworthy that Aquafina is not spring water, but purified tap water. If a customer prefers spring water, the Fair won’t allow you to make that choice. Aquafina’s website says it has 40 “purification sites” throughout the US and Canada, so it’s hardly a New York product.

Food and drink sales at the Fair have long relied on competition between vendors to set prices and give customers a choice, so this greed-driven, 100-percent increase is deeply troubling. What’s next–one sausage vendor setting sandwich prices or a single beer company monopolizing suds sales?

And what about the veterans’ organization that has been raising funds by selling donated one-dollar water in front of the Veteran’s Memorial?

This is an outrageous idea and one that deserves pushback from Fair visitors.

Contact the Fair and demand better.

In considering the future of the event center opening this year on the New York State Fairgrounds, the primary goal in booking the center, according to Acting Director Troy Waffner, will be to bring in events that need a larger venue than was previously available in Central New York. “Nine new shows are coming,” Waffner told State Fair Hound, “There’s a huge new horse show, a drone racing event and a log cabin show. We’re booking into 2019. The calendar is filling up fast.”

Meanwhile, a few of the off-season events in the new king of the western skyline will be expanded versions of current Fairgrounds events, including a boat show and the February Farm Show, that will move into the 110,000-square-foot hall while also using other buildings on the grounds to expand their footprints.

Some people in the community have expressed concerns that the new center would compete directly with other convention and event venues already serving Central New York, particularly the Oncenter downtown and the SRC Arena on the OCC campus. “This is the largest expo center north of New York City between Cleveland and Boston,” Waffner pointed out. “It has over 100,000 square feet of usable space. For a lot of big shows, that’s their make-or-break point.”

“There just wasn’t anywhere to have big shows in the Northeast that wasn’t a logistical nightmare, like a big city” Fair spokesperson Dave Bullard emphasized. “It works better here (compared to New York) because it’s open and easier to get to.”

For those of us who love our 13-day festival, the necessity of building this $62 million structure is far from a closed case, especially when you consider other needs for the Fair and the space taken up by the event center. “The reason the Governor wanted it built,” Waffner said, “is to improve the year-round number of shows.” It’s going to take a few years to shake out the final verdict on whether this project is the best decision at this time. Fair officials are confident that the Expo Center will pay for itself with a pending sponsor name and a busy schedule at the facility by itinerant exhibitors.

Use of the building during the Fair will be divided between ice events, the venerable sand sculpture and an I Love New York tourism exhibit, expanded from the one that occupied part of the Center of Progress last year.

Traditions are a vital component at the New York State Fair, but there are some that may have outlived their appeal. Labor Day features a parade by various union groups that march down the front road and circle Chevy Court. Certainly it’s appropriate to recognize and accommodate working folks on Labor Day. But moving the parade to Broadway, as other parades were moved, would be a good idea, still visible, but less disruptive on what has become a very busy day.

For some reason, part of this Labor Day tradition has been the inclusion in the parade of motorcycles being driven along the route. Bikes can be cool and some fairgoers enjoy seeing them, but this year, the roar from some of the engines was ear-splitting. If you were trapped in the Chevy Court/Dinosaur Bar-B-Que island, you were subjected to potential eardrum damage from the excessive noise.

Re-routing this parade and eliminating excessively-loud bikes are two ideas whose times have come.

State Fair Hound’s review of the 2017 New York State Fair continues today with a look a one big change that didn’t quite hit the big time yet. The Empire Experience area had its pond, a big stage, a tiki bar and plenty of open area for vendors and exhibitors. But it didn’t seem to catch on with Fair patrons as it was under attended most of the time. It will gain popularity, maybe next year.

People just need to pay attention to what’s happening down there and realize they can catch a tram or ride the Skyliner to get there. The potential is certainly there, but 2017 was its infancy.

Looking back on the 13-day New York State Fair just past, there were lots of hits and a few misses. The Hound’s review starts today with the spectacular Wade Shows midway. The headline was the addition of the Broadway Skyliner, a structure destined to define the Fair in future years. But the incredible number of rides and games and the sprawling, open layout make this playground a paradise for kids of all ages. The were services, seating, snack stands and even a return of the I Got It game tents. It was bright, splashy, noisy and very exciting.

If there’s one word that can be used to describe the 2017 New York State Fair, it’s “big.” Make that “enormous.”

Our Fair has always been one of the largest in the country and the layout changes for 2016 increased useable space significantly. But with this year’s opening of the Empire Experience grounds, the view from the Broadway Skyliner really emphasized that this is one massive, impressive event. Consider this; There was so much space inside the perimeter that some areas seemed empty, unused. Future plans for those open spots assure that the growth will continue.

Even when over 100,000 people invaded the grounds, it didn’t seem extremely crowded. There were bottlenecks, like the corner between the dairy cattle barn and the Ox Roast, leading to the colonnade, that were difficult to navigate, but there are fewer such tight spots.

Though attendance numbers don’t tell the whole story, you remember when one million visitors was the magic number–the holy grail. After the past two Fairs, anything less would be disappointing.

As Fair lovers look back on 2017, they may shiver remembering the chilly temperatures or grimace looking back on the traffic jams–though this year was a definite improvement over 2016. But only a really hardcore curmudgeon can see this fabulous event as anything less than amazing, exciting, delicious and yes–very big.

New York State Fair 2017 opens one month from today and advance sale tickets are on sale. There have been some changes, unfortunately, that will make the purchase of tickets and pre-paid ride cards trickier and more expensive for some customers.

Some advance admission and ride purchases are available online only and guess what—online purchases carry additional fees. Thus buyers save less than advertised and certainly less than in previous years.

Fortunately some tickets are still available at local retail outlets as in past years, which adds convenience and saves money. All of the buying options are outlined on the Fair website, nysfair.ny.gov.

One disappointing caveat revealed on the website is that flights on the midway’s new Sky Ride won’t be covered under the ride-all-day bracelet deal.