Colorado State Fair (Volume 150)

Really? First fair ever?

Despite living near one for every year of my adult life, I never visited a state fair. 

Columbus held the Ohio State Fair, with its fairway, butter sculptures and fried candy bars. As a kid, Columbus was a world away, but I lived 10 miles from the state fairgrounds for eight years after college. I never flexed those reporter credentials to get in free, I never felt the lure of all the concerts. If I thought about it, my mind moved on quickly. 

Nashville did not host the Tennessee State Fair, despite its ample fairgrounds. Those honors went to Williamson County directly south, and I hated traveling to Williamson County enough that I never even considered the fair. Not one thought. 

What made 2022 the year to start caring about a state fair? Colorado holds its state fair in Pueblo. I like Pueblo and its lack of Front Range pretensions. It grows beastly hot in summer. After several years of skipping public from COVID-19 fears, I had none this year. 

The Colorado fair’s 150th anniversary seemed like a good time to go. This fair dates back to territory times, as the first fair came four years before Colorado became a state. After a rigorous hike at the Pueblo Mountain Park near Beulah in the Wet Mountain foothills, we decided to visit the fair. 

Rows and rows of rides and fair food preceded the portions of the fair I wanted to see. I have a love for agricultural buildings, where we see goats, chickens, swine, sheep, cows and more competing. 

Enjoyment of livestock came from the Fainting Goat Festival in Lewisburg, Tenn. That was a low-key competition, with some real education about the goats. This Sunday did not have any competitions running, but I still like roaming the buildings. As for the smells, you grow accustomed to how farm buildings will smell. 

On this blistering hot day, we seemed to skip from one air-conditioned building to the next. We broke for lunch at one of the many tents, then returned to rows of tents and buildings. Were we not there so early, the 7 p.m. Jim Gaffigan show might have been a good option. You never know who might line up a state fair show. 

A little museum told the fair’s history. It was funny to see old mementos, especially ashtrays and Coors-themed salt and pepper shakers. The art and food buildings were also interesting. Dishes that won awards at county fairs appeared here behind glass so you could not taste them. The art buildings were even more fascinating. What won awards spanned a wide spectrum. 

By the end of the fair, we hunted for shade, for places to drink our drinks before we headed out. That might be the biggest drawback to a state fair in Pueblo – it’s at lower elevation than much of the front range and in August, 90-degree days are unavoidable.

But that's when you grab a cold drink, find your shade and enjoy the people watching that only an event like a state fair can deliver.