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Published: August 17th 2012
August 10, 2012
The Illinois State Fair was first held in 1853. Admission was a quarter. Being life-long Hoosiers we finally decided to cross the border and give it a visit. It was an overcast morning as we arrived at the fairgrounds in Springfield. My being a few years older than Karen saved us $4. Like the Indiana fairgrounds, the one here also contains a dirt racing track. Today was Harness Racing Day.
Overall, the Illinois State Fair seems a lot smaller than Indiana's. You will find, though, an over abundance of food vendors. They were everywhere! We walked through the Exhibitor's Building, which also on the mezzanine level acted as a check-in station for some 4-H projects. You won't find the slew of projects to view as you do in Indiana. The Illinois system for 4-H projects is different. We saw very few projects.
Ponies with small carts were beging judged in the Coliseum, and for $1 in the cattle barn you could milk a cow. The line was quite long for this experience. We toured the fine arts building, again much smaller than Indiana's. The crowd was to be found at the Pork/Beef tent. Since we
always have a pork burger dinner when we visit the Indiana State Fair, we joined the line and very much enjoyed our sandwiches.
Finished with lunch, we walked across the street to the Grandstand and watched a couple of the harness races. No bets. After about 4 hours of walking we had basically seen all there was to be seen. There were small shows here and there at different times throughout the day that were available free of charge. One that we saw were a troupe of comedic high divers. In comparison to what we're used to when visiting a state fair, Indiana's is bigger with a lot more to see and do.
We've heard the Texas State Fair is the biggest and best. Maybe next year!
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Bill & Dee
non-member comment
Right on!
We are two Hoosiers who did exactly the same as you last week! After many, many visits to the Indiana State Fair we decided to check out Illinois this year. We have exactly the same reaction as you. It took us awhile to orient ourselves at the Illinois State Fair, as it all seemed so small. It's amazing to find your travel blog about our very situation. You summed it all up very well. We had planned to spend two days at the Fair in Springfield. (We often attend the Indiana State Fair 2-3 times while it's running.) But, after about 5 hours at the Illinois Fair, we realized we had seen and experienced it all and didn't go back. There was a rather sparse crowd. The staff were friendly. We met some very nice volunteers. My daughter teases my husband that he's just a Hoosier at heart!