In a little over a month we will all be heading out to the state fair.

What is your favorite part of the fair?

You need an option for people who don't care to go to the fair.

The fair is pathetic. It's not fun, everything is expensive, and the people there scare me. I prefer the mall to the fair.

I figured people that do not want to go would just move on to the next post.

Okay.........

It's the state fair not a dinner party in the Hamptons.

Okay.........

It's the state fair not a dinner party in the Hamptons.

I don't know, but with those prices for everything at the fair, you'd think...

man you get to see all the latest 80's fashion at the fair...gotta go

We do the walk around, eat, drink and get the hells outta there technique

I figured people that do not want to go would just move on to the next post.
You'd think, huh?

I'm with Midtowner. The fair is a complete joke and a waste of my time and hard-earned money. What a joke!

but they have FUNNEL CAKES!!!!!:tweeted:

So does IHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :boff:

We use to one of the best fairs in the nation, but what happened to it!!!!!

Nothing happened to it. Fairs are fairs. People that don't like them don't like them, even the best of them. It's the whole atmosphere of the fair that doesn't do much for some.

Yeah, with the technology that people have today, it is almost as if fairs are obsolete. I love the fair, and I think it is neat. Maybe, we could modernize it just a tad bit more to attract a wider crowd.

but they have FUNNEL CAKES!!!!!:tweeted:

I'd rather go to a Redhawks game and watch Keith and OklaCity_75 down a funnel cake. It's more fun!

Why is Toby Keith not coming to OKC on his tour!!!??

Why is Toby Keith not coming to OKC on his tour!!!??

Because he lives here.

Has he ever performed at the Ford Center?

Has he ever performed at the Ford Center?

Yes.

I do plan on taking in the fair. I'm looking forward to comparing it to the Minnesota State Fair which is supposed to be one of the nation's largest.

Neither Lori or I are big on rides. We both can well served to stay away from the food booths. (like that will happen)

I'm sure this fair will be heavy into agriculture. I assume more into livestock than horticulture.

Anyway I'm looking forward to a good time. Does the fair have a website?

http://www.oklahomastatefair.com/

http://www.okstatefairpark.com/

I can't wait to see the fat lady walking around with a cinnamon roll in one hand, a corn dog in the other, and an elephant ear in her mouth.

Here she is....sipping on a drink she got at the fair:

http://www.ertra.com/temp/weekly/fat_lady.jpg

I am looking forward to it this year because its going to save me some money. I need to have a spray on bedliner put on my truck. Every year Line-X and Rhino linings have booths out there and they offer deep discounts.

While I am there I will eat my state fair traditional meal which is a pork chop sandwhich, fresh cut curly fries and a fresh squeezed lemonade. After that I will probably take a look at the new car displays and head to the house.

The rest is just a flea market enviorment and the rides are a ripoff.

Sure its not the Squeezecake factory or Penn Square Mall but I am going and I plan having a lot fun.

hey I'm there with ya Okla...have to hit the pancho dogs and corn first off...finish off w/ an indian taco washed down with 4 or 5 beers

I just wish they still allowed the dunk tank guy to berate and cuss out passersby...too tame now, but still pretty funny

This may be a letdown already... No nationally known acts other than Foghat or Shooter Jennings? (the latter may be a stretch) Am I missing something?

Bowling for Soup is going be out there.

Blake Shelton, Jo Dee Messina and Sawyer Brown are playing at rodeo.

Bowling for Soup is going be out there.

Blake Shelton, Jo Dee Messina and Sawyer Brown are playing at rodeo.

Who?

Who?


What?

One thing I do kind of like is the fact that the fair has been trying to have the free outdoor concerts, but they aren't having good acts now. There's no one I'd go watch this year. Last year there was only one that was interesting to me.

Why is the fair so expensive to the customers and the venders. I mean that even that sandwich place was run off by the cost; they had been there for years!!

To me the State Fair means rain,thats about it for me.

Most of the changes everybody hates came about when Skip Wagner was the fair director.

I would hope this year would be much different from others just because of all the construction going on around the park.

I drive by the fairgrounds on a regular basis. From what I can tell, several exhibit halls have cranes erected around them and it looks like a large paving project is underway. I also noticed all the barns have been remodeled or replaced.

I am curious to see if the new projects have improved things at all.

One thing I always thought was out of place was the Dillard’s store out at the fair. If I want to shop Dillard’s I will go to one of the malls. I am not going to pay $8.00 to shop at a department store I can shop.

This year I'll be doing the same thing I did last year....being a volunteer and assisting the Okla. City police Department at their mobile command center. I'll be helping them with booking all of those that are arrested for fighting, intoxication, and indecent exposure. Believe me, the "temporary" jails at the command center fill up fast.

It's amazing to me the number of fair patrons that get in trouble at the fair for doing stupid stuff. Many that get arrested think that they are being held for a little while and then getting released. What they don't know is that if they get arrested for public intoxication, then they are going to be taken to detox. If they are arrested for anything else, they get transported to the county jail.

Other than doing this for the police department, I enjoy the funnel cakes, and the pork chop sandwiches. I also enjoy the exhibits, and all of the freebies. No midway and no rides......too dangerous and too expensive.

What is the midway?

Is there a website for the construction at the fair, or are there any pictures?

What is the midway?

Is there a website for the construction at the fair, or are there any pictures?

ETL: You really do not know what a midway is?

You mean where the games are?

Yes.. the midway is where most of the games and rides are located.

Is there a website for the construction at the fair, or are there any pictures?


http://www.okstatefairpark.com/press/constructionpictures.htm

http://www.okstatefairpark.com/press/constructionpictures.htm

Thanks!!!:spin:

I used to work at the Cottonwood Post with a gunfight/re-enactment group at the fair every year. That was about 20 years ago. I believe the Oklahoma state fair was one of the best in the nation. But now, I/my family and I seldom go, it's just a shell of it's former self. Most of the people I associate with don't bother to go anymore, where it used to be a can't miss event. Many people would go numerous times each year. It has definitely changed.

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/500/medium/State_Fair_004.jpg

This is where the old monorail went to. It sits right next to the Oklahoman building.


http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/500/medium/State_Fair_007.jpg

I am assuming that this is an outdoor arena that they just built, but I am not for sure. Does anybody know? This is on the far west side of the fairgrounds.

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/500/medium/State_Fair_003.jpg

Construction on the new horse barn

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/500/medium/State_Fair_002.jpg

A different view of the barn

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/data/500/medium/State_Fair_001.jpg

The front side of the barn.

There is all kinds of construction going on at the fairgrounds. Things are looking real good.

Are there plans to UPDATE the space needle?

Thanks for the pics! The fair is looking better already!

Are there plans to UPDATE the space needle?

Thanks for the pics! The fair is looking better already!

Nope. They determined that the space needle was in pretty good shape.

Well, when you ride it, it sure don't sound like it!

What happened to the State Fair?

Skip Wegner happened to the State Fair, who was brought in from Texas to head the thing a few years back. His primary objective was to reinvent the fair as the State Fair of Texas - North. The exhibit halls, everything, even the names of the buildings - all cloned from the Fair in Dallas. He proceeded to decimate the thing; only after it was too late did people realize what he had done to the fair did people get frustrated and irrirated enough to start complaining publicly. Once they did, Wegner quit and went back to Texas.

The fair was an Oklahoma special until Wegner screwed it up. He chased out a bunch of the traditional vendors with rent increases, tore out the cannas and other flowers throughout the grounds, and even though he left, the momentum behind his other plans persisted - most notably the destruction of the monorail. The Made in Oklahoma building was one of my favorite buildings, and Wegner "reconceptualized" it into this idiotic Agricultural-on-LSD exhibit, and now many of those other vendors simply don't come anymore.

The fair truly is a shell of its former self. For me, the fair was always a rite of fall passage, and sometimes we'd even go more than once. You could get discount tickets at virtually every grocery store in town. Now they've just turned it into a money-grab; minimal discounts only at certain venues if you buy well before the fair. It wasn't always this way, folks.

I still go to the fair, but not with the enthusiasm I did when I was younger, and I lament the fact that my kids know the fair only as it is today, not as it was even as recently as a decade ago.

Alas. Rant mode off.

-SoonerDave

Well, what are the plans of the people running the show now?

man you get to see all the latest 80's fashion at the fair...gotta go

We do the walk around, eat, drink and get the hells outta there technique

Well if that's the case, I guess that's a good sign. 80's fashion is the in thing for this season

metro...guess you are right, but lets hope the mullet never gets back in style...who knew the Okla state fairgoers may be on the leading edge of fashion : )

Well, what are the plans of the people running the show now?

That's a darned fine question. At the moment, their primary concern apparently is the horse barn project. I don't know if this "master vision" that had been laid out and partially implemented is still in the offing, or if it is all on hold. The refinishing of what was (and, I guess, is once again) the "International" building was an example of how they planned to redo the rest of the buildings, and to an extent I guess they've extended that theme color/paintwise to the new horse barns. As for what they plan to do with the fair in general in its half-mangled condition, I don't know. Unfortunately, you can't unring many of the bells Wegner trashed during his Reign of Error.

If it were up to me, I'd instantly abolish the pseudo-Disney "Agtropolis" nonsense in what's now termed "The Oklahoma Expo" (gag), formerly "Made in Oklahoma" and get some of the vendors back in there that made the place so attractive and crowded. They've jammed so much junk in the "foyer" area of that building such that you can barely breathe.

I lost count of the number of vendors who told me that they think the fair is kinda dying because of the changes, not that it would necessarily cease to exist literally, but that so much harm had been done to it that it will take a lot of care and planning to bring it back. I used to love to go to the Junior Hospitality booth in the ol' Balloon Building and get submarine sandwiches; but not anymore - Wegner chased them out, too. And the Hobbies, Arts, and Crafts building has *maybe* 30% of the exhibits it once had - and it's no accident, I'm sure, that the layout is strikingly like a similar exhibit hall at the State Fair in Dallas.

The theme from the people I talked to was pretty simple - the "new guy" running the fair was pretty much running roughshod over everyone, and if they didn't like the new booth prices/arrangements, tough, and of course the rental went sky-high and priced many such vendors out - a necessary consequence of having reduced the number of exhibits in so many of the buildings.

I always thought the monorail was a wonderfully distinctive and unique presence at our fair, and that's gone. Heck, the local TV stations don't make as big a push at the fair as they once did. The frustrating part is that it was all so unnecessary - under the umbrella of necessary fixups, such as adding/revamping bathrooms and infrastructure items, they just gutted the rest of the fair in the process.

How would I plan the Fair? First, get back to our roots - change the name back to "State Fair of Oklahoma," not "Oklahoma State Fair." And stop calling the place "Fair Park," (like they do in Dallas), and go back to calling it the "State Fairgrounds." Stop any planned demolition and get the physical plant organized such that it can be relandscaped, and try (if possible) to bring back some of the fountains that Wegner mothballed. Then, start getting discount tickets back in just about every retail outlet in town, and make them available THROUGHOUT the fair. Make people feel *welcome*. Let them know you want their *business*, not just their *money*.

That gives you a baseline from which you can start planning forward. Once you get back to a new baseline, increase the vendor count, drop the rent, and BEG some of those hearty, traditional souls to come back. Unfortunately, you can't undo the damage of trashing the monorail. It's gone forever, and that's an absolute travesty. I'm amazed they didn't try to justify knocking down the space needle.

I'm no fair planning genius, but it seems to me that if you bring back the things that attracted the masses in the first place, they might start coming back. You can energize the fair with a nice fresh mix of new ideas, but you don't blast the whole thing apart from inside out and then wonder why people stop coming...

-SoonerDave

I wonder if they still give it out the free fair tickets in schools?

I remember all through grade school we would get a free ticket from our teachers.

As a family we used go out there at least three times during the course of the fair.

I've never received free tickets to give out to students.

They probably do not do it anymore. Back in the 80's when I was in elementary and jr. high they gave out free fair tickets almost every year.
I am sure since then someone screamed about it and they changed it.

Back then most of metro schools included day off for fair day in school calendar. I am sure since then someone screamed about it and they changed it.

One problem with the fair is that it is TOO long. It needs to only be five to seven days long instead of ten. Also, I think the fair should be physically redone through the next five to ten years and should be completed in phases. The price of the booths should be rented through three, five, and ten year contacts, and designate one or two buildings for one year contacts. The fair should implement a program similar to the one that Mazzio’s once had. The fair should give out free and discount coupons to each child in the OKC metro area that reads a designated number of books in the following two weeks (changes per grade). The kids will BEG their parents to go. ;-) Also, the fair could sell coupon books with coupons on food and other things along with a map. The entrance to the fair is TOO HIGH. Lower it by a dollar. Having a shorter fair would help. The longer it is, the more it costs.

Go to http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fairgp2.jpg to see map.

1. Redo the courtyard with the train and the outside of the building. I don’t know about the inside.
2. Reconstruct some of the interior, but mostly the outside needs to be a little more attractive.
3. Modernize the Space Needle. Ask companies to sponsor this through advertisements that can be posted on the inside along with the history of the Space Needle. Oh, the Space Needle should cost maybe one or two dollars to ride for an adult and free for 12 and under.
4. Make this the Oklahoma History Building. Have venders along the interior wall and in the center between the interior and exterior wall. Have local artists tell a story of the history of Oklahoma through a floor to ceiling mural. Companies can sponsor sections of the wall with a sign that says, “Sponsored by: blah blah blah.” Below that can be the history and the meaning of that section of the mural, and under that can be the artist’s name. The mural should make a circle like the building; it should blend the past and present when the circle is complete. The courtyard can have local plants that thrive in Oklahoma along with the plants name. The courtyard can be sponsored by companies or have locals sponsor the plants with their name. The exterior just needs some paint and landscaping along with the new name.
5. Reconstruct the bleachers area or at least make it attractive.
6. Save the old house and do something with this building.

I also think we need to rebuild the monorail. From the info on http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/HowMuch.html, there is a monorail in Carr West, England that is not expensive and is the size we need. We could build one like this one. I estimate its cost to be $7.86 million. Keep in mind that I am no expert. The two stations would be great to get from one side of the park to the other. Day passes could be sold for so much, or year passes could be sold. Oh, don’t forget local sponsors could help in the cost.

This is what is being done on the other side. http://www.okstatefairpark.com/press/constructionpictures.htm

These are just some ideas that popped in my head. Let me know what you think.

I think shortening the fair to less than 10 days is the most ridiculous comment I've heard all day.

Why not? At the least tell me why.

What of my other ideas? Good or Bad?

Why not? At the least tell me why.

Money!

Why shorten the fair? Let's offer people more of an opportunity to go to it.

For that matter, I say bring back the Spring Fair.

The fairgrounds are incredibly under used by the general public.

I'm going. We're giving tickets to our employees and their families again this year.
By the way, Blake Shelton, Jo Dee Messina and Sawyer Brown are well known entertainers. I've had the pleasure of seeing all of them in concert.

Shooter Jennings is a different story. Don't waste your money.

Oh, the rest of your ideas are fine. I didn't mean to sound critical.

Really, the exterior of all of the buildings need a face lift. And all of the areas could be better landscaped.