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.
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