State Fairs & Foodies

State fairs are one of the joys of late summer and early autumn. The first state fair was held in Syracuse, New York in 1841, and state fairs spread from there. Today, every state in the nation holds a summer fair. There are also tribal fairs, as well as local and regional fairs throughout the U.S. These events draw communities together through arts, crafts and cookery.

Every year, I look forward to the state fair season. At its heart, it is all about food. These events continue the tradition of showcasing agricultural bounty and food produced by community members from the products of the land. They have also become gustatory delights, enabling fairgoers to try new and creative food combinations from domestic as well as international cuisines. The result is a foodie’s dream!

A few years ago, while I was in Minnesota doing research on SPAM: A Global History, I took the opportunity to attend the Minnesota State Fair, or “The Great Minnesota Get-Together” as it is known. Aug. 27 – Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2026 | Minnesota State Fair The fair promotes its diverse food offerings as one of the main reasons to attend the event. Indeed, every year, organizers alert people to the food lineup for the forthcoming fair several months in advance. This allows potential goers the pleasure of drooling over the descriptions of 30+ new foods before they even get to the fair. Online, fair organizers offer the Food Fair Finder, Food | Minnesota State Fair, a datable of searchable fair food, which is specifically designed to show where and how to get all of the food at that year’s fair. Once I received the email telling me what foods were new the year of my attendance, which included lavender lemonade and fried Reuben bites, I printed out a map of the fairgrounds. I then carefully plotted out my food course. This way, I did not miss a single food that I had staked out to devour. 

In the end, I ate everything that I had intended to in a massive calorie splurge, eating much more that my normal day’s intake. I was almost too full to move and slightly uncomfortable at being way over my food capacity. But it was a wonderful foodie experience and I regretted none of what I ate. Even now, I still receive the yearly email in May, alerting me to the new foods that will be at that year’s fair in late August. I pour over the food photos and descriptions with gastronomic zeal, nostalgically remembering my foodie adventure at the fair.

Sadly, as we draw near October, all of the state fairs have finished for the season. However, the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. has created a wonderful exhibition celebrating the history, creativity, and spectacle of state and tribal fairs with its new exhibition, State Fairs: Growing American Craft. Visiting the exhibition, I was transported to the state fair again, enjoying the arts and crafts, particularly those dedicated to food. The show contained many artifacts as an homage to the history and importance of consumables and cookery at the fair. My personal favorites in the exhibition included a dress made entirely out of cardboard butter containers, the life-size, sculpted butter cow, and the stunning Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel).

The Renwick also pays tribute to the time honored tradition of food competitions at the state fair. The museum dedicated an entire gallery to a pyramid containing hundreds of pickles, jams and jellies made by one person for a state fair.

While the exhibition is based in D.C., those living further afield can view select pieces from the show through the Renwick’s online gallery: State Fairs: Growing American Craft | Smithsonian American Art Museum