It started cool and finished hot.
That seems to sum up the 2023 New York State Fair, certainly from a weather point of view, and also for daily attendance, and perhaps even fairgoer satisfaction.
With the help of fair officials, vendors and syracuse.com staff who covered it, here are 6 takeaways on the 2023 version of the State Fair:
Attendance: The positive news is that the number of people through the gates was up this year from last year, and the best since before the Covid pandemic began.
Total attendance for the 13-day run of the 2023 was 932,699. But it didn’t match up with the pre-pandemic numbers. In the five years preceding 2020, more than 1 million people attended annually. From 2015-2019, average annual attendance was 1,159,105. The all time record was 1,329,275 fairgoers set in 2019.
And there’s one other marker: As is often the case, the state fair attendance fell behind that of the Erie County Fair, which is held just before the state fair in Hamburg near Buffalo. This year’s Erie County Fair drew 1,172,635 visitors, just short of the record 1,220,101 set in 2014.
State Fair Director Sean Hennessey said he’s happy with the attendance numbers, but repeated what he’s said often since talking over the fair in 2022.
“I’m ecstatic to have that volume of folks on the fairgrounds, building memories,” Hennessey said. ”.. The numbers are nice, but our goal is really to have a safe experience, a memorable experience, and a fun experience. I think we hit those mile markers quite well.”
The crowd watching Ludacris perform on the Suburban Park stage at the New York State Fair, Geddes, N.Y., Thursday, August 31, 2023 Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com
Concerts: Country, classic rock or hip hop? All three seem to draw fans to the fair, especially at the Suburban Park stage on the west side of the fairgrounds.
The biggest concert crowd of the fair was the 53,200 fans who attended the Opening Night show by country star Lainey Wilson, the reigning Best New Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
That also marks the biggest concert crowd (at the fair or the Dome) in Syracuse history, syracuse.com entertainment writer Geoff Herbert reported.
Meanwhile, veteran hip hop star Ludacris drew 39,400 fans to his ‘mixtape of hits’ show on Aug. 31. And classic rockers REO Speedwagon entertained 34,000 fans with the sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s on Aug. 28.
All three shows are now among the top 10 biggest crowds in NYS fair history.
“It really crosses all genres, doesn’t it?” Hennessey said. “It’s an eclectic mix we get at the these concerts.”
Visitors stream into the Exposition Center at the 2023 NYS Fair to see the Dinosaur Expedition exhibit, featuring life-size animatronic reptiles.Steve Featherstone | sfeatherstone@syracuse.com
Other attractions: There’s certainly more to fair entertainment than concerts (all of which is included in the cost of a ticket to the fair).
Hennessey pointed to the popularity of such attractions as the run-of-the-fair Dinosaur Expedition in the Expo Center and the Peppa Pig kids’ show at Chevy Court.
And he said he heard many positive reactions to the new Asian Village, which offered food and other cultural activities on the fair’s west side during the fair’s first four days.
One popular attraction this year was the Asian Village’s MaPow Coconuts stand. It offered a cooling (and non-alcoholic) drink of natural coconut water in the shell. It also offered a bit of a show, as syracuse.com food writer Charlie Miller reported. Vendor Chong Vang drew crowds to watch him use a two-inch punch tool to open the coconuts in seconds.
“All of our villages, the Asian, the Latino, Pan African and Indian village are much more popular than I imagined when I started this job,” Hennessey said. “It shows that our goals of increasing inclusion and diversity on the fairgrounds is paying off.”
Doughnuts from Peachy's Baking Company at the New York State Fair.
The food: Yes, there are fewer food stands than in the years before the pandemic, but that still meant more than 100 vendors offering foods that are deep-fried, served on a stick, sugar-coated and, sometimes, even a bit healthful.
New items this year ranged from a quite large pork tenderloin sandwich at the Daniella’s / Empire Room to the Salt Potato Smash bowl at the Beak & Skiff / 1911 Established stand along State Fair Boulevard.
Judging by the comments at the Where Syracuse Eats page on Facebook (administered by syracuse.com), some of the biggest accolades went to Peachy’s, a donut-focused stand that debuted at the NYS Fair in 2019.
“Simply amazing,” fairgoer Isaac Sunkes posted at Where Syracuse Eats on Aug. 26. “Not your typical donut as it is soft, warm, and doughy. The glaze just melts in your mouth. I highly recommend.”
Other commenters suggested Peachy’s which is based in Florida, should open a permanent location in the Syracuse area.
A rainbow stretches over the main gate of the New York State Fair on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023.New York State Fair
The weather: At some points during the first few days of the fair, it seemed like fall was coming fast. By the end, it seemed like summer would never leave.
The average high temperature for the 13 days was 78, which is about normal for fair time, according to syracuse.com weather and science reporter Glenn Coin. The fair also experienced 0.37 inches of rain, making it the driest since 2017.
It only rained during four of the 13 days, and not during the four weekend days or on the Labor Day holiday.
But even a short sprinkle on Sept. 2 provided a special fair moment, when a double rainbow arced across the fairgrounds. It was captured in pictures taken by dozens of fairgoers.
Eventually, it did heat up, with higher temperatures and rising humidity on the Labor Day weekend, the fair’s finale. That period also saw two of the biggest daily attendance marks of the fair.
As Hennessey predicted before the fair started, perhaps “the weather gods are with us.”
Aaron Horan, operator of the Horan's food stand at the NYS Fair, offers an ice pop to a tired youngster on a hot day. (Photo courtesy Larry Spetts).
Random kindness: Large crowds and sometimes challenging weather are often a recipe for tempers to flare.
But several commenters posting on the Where Syracuse Eats page on Facebook took time to call attention to one food stand along Restaurant Row where the operators seemed to go out of their way to do something nice.
The stand is the family-owned Horan’s, run by Aaron Horan.
“Was sitting down here and asked if it was cash only and this ‘random’ guy said yeah but I got you buddy,” commenter Cameron Taylor posted on the last Saturday of the fair. “Turns out he was the owner and he had no idea who I was so it was a generous act.”
A few days later, another Where Syracuse Eats commenter had this story:
“I always like to grab my breakfast sandwich from Horan’s,” Larry Spetts posted. “Today being no different grabbed a sandwich and iced coffee. Very quickly my 2 year old got into a fit cause he wanted to run around without holding a hand. Not sure owner or worker but doesn’t matter he’s a human being. This guy stopped what he was doing at work to try and cheer my little guy up. He brought over some stickers and ice pops (which are like gold on a hot day to staff working in a hot kitchen). I must of said thank you 5 times and it just wasn’t enough. This is not a business move but a pure good man move.”
(Editor’s note: The photo accompanying Spetts’ comment showed the man was Aaron Horan).
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at (315) 470-2297 or dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.