LEWISBURG, W.Va. — From education to agriculture, the State Fair of West Virginia and its nearly 100 year impact will soon return to the Appalachian hills of Lewisburg this Thursday.
State Fair CEO Kelly Collins said for the 99th annual state fair, the 10-day event will bring back everyone’s favorite activities, including carnival rides, shopping and vendors, livestock events and live musical entertainment August 8- 17.
Collins said as the state’s largest multi-day event, it’s a popular way to say goodbye to summertime.
Kelly Collins
“We always tell people that the state fair is the perfect way to celebrate the end the summer, I know a lot of people are getting ready to go back to school, and you’re not going out of state, it’s a nice little day trip to come down and there’s something for everyone,” Collins said.
Collins said a main aspect that fair-goers enjoy year by year is all of the new and unique variations on traditional fair food.
She said they will be debuting some more new foods again this year during the annual Best New Fair Food Contest. Every year vendors are asked to come up with a new and exciting dish for the contest that gets judged in front of professional judges and attendees alike who cast in their votes for the People’s Choice award.
Collins said in years past, some of the dishes have included a pickled pizza and a dill pickle calzone.
She said the contest has generated a lot of interest over the past few years they have been holding it, because people are always looking for something different when they come to the fair and not just your typical hamburgers and hot dogs.
“When you come to the State Fair, there’s always something a little bit different that you might not be able to get year round, I know the cinnamon rolls are always popular, the Ben Ellen Donuts, the turkey legs, there’s all kinds of exciting ideas and we can’t wait to debut those items,” she said.
Collins said another major aspect of the state fair and one that makes it what it is today– agriculture.
She the agricultural scene and livestock shows at, not only the West Virginia State Fair, but state and county fairs across the country serve as a way to promote each state’s agriculture and tell its story.
For this reason, the fair hosts a number of Future Farmer’s of America livestock shows throughout the ten-day event.
Collins said the shows are an important opportunity for kids to get to highlight their farming and agricultural skills, and which has been a personal endeavor for her.
“I was lucky enough and had that opportunity growing up to show at the State Fair of West Virginia, so it’s really near and dear to my heart to be able to see these kids who have worked so hard on their projects year-round to showcase their animals here at the state fair, you know it’s the state championship for what they’re doing,” she said.
Another major livestock event taking place during the fair is the Draft Horse Pull which will be held on the final Friday, August 16 at 9 a.m.
The live musical entertainment during the fair this year will feature around 15 different artists throughout the two weeks.
The artists include Lil Jon with special guest Landon Cube on Friday, August 9, West Virginia’s own Charles Wesley Godwin with special guest Muscadine Bloodline on Sun, Aug. 11, Seether on Mon, Aug. 12, Bailey Zimmerman with special guest Matt Schuster on Thurs, Aug. 15, Oliver Anthony on Fri, Aug. 16 and many others every other night of the fair.
There will also be free entertainment throughout the 10 days including the Paul Bunyon Lumberjack Show, Live Shark Encounter and the return of Hypnotist Catherine Hickland to the U.S. Cellular Stage.
Collins said last year saw the largest crowd in state fair history with around 185,000 people. She said this year, they expect between 180,000 and 190,000 people to come into the fair.
She said it’s bittersweet that the fair has been around for nearly a century now.
“It’s so special that we have been around for 100 years, and to see the growth of the state fair and how important it is to people,” Collins said.
Collins said a lot of people don’t realize that the state fair is a non-profit based on the amount of revenue it brings in to the state. She said the fair generates about $16.9 million in revenue .
However, economic impact aside, Collins said the State Fair of West Virginia represents a place where friends and families can just go to be together and have a good time.
“That’s really why we’re here is to promote agriculture and to promote folks making memories, that’s our theme this year is ‘Mountain Memories,’ it’s a perfect segway into celebrating 100 years of the state fair’s history and how important we are to the state and to the folks of West Virginia,” Collins said.
Various specials to get into the fair on discounted rates will be offered throughout the 10 days as well.
On the opening day Communities in Schools of Greenbrier County will hold its “Tools for School Supply Drive,” where people can bring in 3 school supply items or 2 personal hygiene items and get into the fair on $8 gate admission or $25 for rides and gate admission.
People can get into the fair for just $1 on Wednesday, Aug. 14 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. After 4 p.m. that day they will only have to pay $7.
For more information, you can visit www.statefairofwv.com, or follow fair events on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.