It is time for a change. I took my family to the State Fair on 10/25/15 during the daytime to avoid the riff raff that comes out at night. It happened to be a discount day which was nice. 4 non-perishable items gets you in for free. Plus it was 2 dollar rides and games day. Well most rides and most games at least. Most games are 2 bucks on any given day so that wasn't a huge plus but the 2 dollar rides was a bonus.
We had a good time and tried some fun food and rode some okay rides. The best was the Minneapple Apple Pie with cinnamon ice cream. My son loved the kid rides and had a blast going on them and playing water games. The weather was beautiful out and being able to bring in our own water and snacks was a huge plus.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of downers that spoiled some of the fun. Many of the rides were cut short. I'm not sure if they are just short on the regular of if they were shortened due to the discount day. But either way a lot of them weren't worth it.
The animal barn which is usually a great exhibit was full of birds and not animals. Usually there are tons of different animals and rabbits and what not. This time it was just boring plain old birds. It could have just been the day we went on.
The vendors are probably the worst part of the fair and getting worse by the year. There are people selling all kinds of junk. Cheap cell phone cases. Cheap toys. Just real swap meet bottom barrel type junk. There were several booths selling unauthorized NFL merchandise. From NFL team signs to cheap ponchos, shirts, and hats. These were all plain and out in the open. I took some pictures and sent them to the NFL. This is illegal and obviously sanctioned by the state fair by how blatant it was being done.
The worst part about the fair was the location and crowd. The parking lot is a wreck as are the bathrooms and building structures. It is time to let the Coliseum go AZ. They should move the fair to a better area and better facility. As a native I have many great memories of the Coliseum but this was not one of them. The crowd was filled with typical trailer trash chain smoking type. That's all part of the experience but it would be nice to eat some Poutine fries without giving my kid second hand smoke.
How about a little common sense here? Maybe set up some smoking areas? Or making the food areas and childrens section smoke free?
All in all the vendors, location, and crowd made it a cheap and ghetto experience for me. It was almost like a swap meet with rides and junk food.
There are many questions: Maybe they are catering to the crowd? Maybe they are drawing in a certain type of crowd with the direction they are going in? Maybe it is time for AZ to have another fair in a better area that focuses on family fun?
One thing is for sure. It is definitely time for a change.