State Fares

On Saturday I went to the Oregon State Fair. Never before have I been to one of those state fares, even though Louisiana has one (I am not sure where, but it is far north of New Orleans). Most of those fairs are held in the more rural states, but most states have them and they originally centered around agriculture of the state, with competitions involving livestock and farming. Today, they have evolved into more of a carnival atmosphere with carnival rides, foods and the old state fair activities mixed in with entertainment performances. Big name music acts are often booked at some state fairs.

I am not an expert on state fairs but would guess that Oregon's is a mid level one as to size and scope. I spent more of my time watching shoes and especially enjoyed a very funny hypnotist act that used members of the audience to do hilarious things they probably would never do to the extent they displayed if not under hypnosis.This is what I observed at the fare beyond what was on display. I found it a kind of unifying event for the people of the state. Maybe that's why those fares are most often held at the state capital city (as was Oregon's, in Salem, Oregon). The people who attend those fares are mostly residents of the state and the fares rarely advertise outside of the state to make it a tourist event. State Fares are one of the last large event that is not a tourist one.

I found the people had a sense of pride in their fare and their state that they displayed subconsciously. The attitude of those attending the Oregon State fare, and I assume other state fares, was as a local celebration ( in this case of Oregon), a kind of "this is for us" event. One example of this was the barbecue contest at the fare. I stopped and talked with one of the competitors and asked her if the contestants were local and she said almost all were from Oregon. "This is more for us than a national contest", she told me. The one exception to the local first rule is the big name music acts and an international lumberjack championship that ESPN network was filming and was being held during the entire first week of the two week fare. I think those were hooks used to draw more locals who have been to the fare in previous years and want new attractions.

Another observation that I have to make about the fares is that they can make a person go back in time, to his or her youth or at least to simpler times. Amazingly, I saw only a few people using cell phones at the fair. I think they just don't fit at such a pure and old style event, and social sanctions (though unstated) causes etiquette to return when people attend those fares. This discourages the common cell phone abuse there that is seen in most public places. It was exhilarating for a cell hater like me to finally not be annoyed by the endless idiotic, phone chatter that is commonly conducted in public.

I had fun at the fare and think such events are a healthy sign that people still have the capacity to enjoy simplicity in their entertainment.