Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - "It's the '12 Best Days of Summer,' and we're going to have a roaring good time here at the Erie County Fair."
The gates open at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday for the 182nd annual Erie County Fair at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. This year's event will run all the way through Sunday, Aug. 21, and, in a way, will be a return to full normalcy for the first time since 2019.
"Gosh, it feels really good to have a somewhat normal fair, or more normal fair than last year. [It's] kind of like 2019 all over again," said CEO of the Erie County Fair, Jessica Underberg on Tuesday.
A number of vendors and others were flocking to the fairgrounds on Tuesday to set up shop and make their final preparations before fairgoers make their grand entrance for another exciting year in Hamburg.
"It's going to look a lot more like it did in '19, as far as number of food vendors, number of rides, the amount of programming and the variety of programming. That part's been really, really good," Underberg said.
When planning for the 2022 Erie County Fair, there were actually some things the COVID-19 pandemic taught organizers that they ended up keeping going forward.
"There are some buildings that have a little wider aisles than maybe they did in 2019, but not quite as wide as it wasn't 2021. The same thing with some outdoor setups - there was some spaces that got tight, it's uncomfortable when it's tight and it's really busy, so we left them a little more wide open and just added a little more comfort level," Underberg explained.
Wednesday's opening of the fair will mark the return of the annual food drive, where people can bring four cans of food and get free admission. Underberg says all the donations will go towards helping FeedMore WNY in a time where some people need the most help.
As for what's new to the Erie County Fair this year, Underberg says there are a couple of things that will be pretty wild for the public to experience.
"The Blackhawk helicopter has landed last week Thursday, so it's in place and it's ready for guests to check out and get up and close to," she said. "I know I've never gotten up close to a Blackhawk helicopter before, so that was pretty cool for me.
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
"A lot of our entertainment acts too, I would say, are as varied as they've ever been. We have everything from Nelly to the Fab Four to Trace Adkins, Lonestar and Terry Clark in one show to Riley Green to Gabriel Iglesias, and then obviously our demo derbies and Ultimate Night of Destruction. So it's pretty varied, and that's exciting to me."
In addition, the circus has a couple acts coming in this year from America's Got Talent. The fair also has a new hypnotist this year in Benjamin Jackson, among other new items on the docket.
"There's a good energy around this year's fair that's been building for the last few weeks, and it's been a lot of fun," Underberg said.
Among the acts and other attractions making a return to the fair includes Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy and Gary the Silent Clown, who actually retired after last year's fair and is making one last final performance on Saturday, Aug. 13 in the Family Entertainment Complex. Other acts returning to the fair in 2022 includes Ramblin' Lou and the Family Band, as well as Stars of the Peking Acrobats.
Also returning every night of the fair is the fireworks show, starting at 9:30 p.m. ET and done by Skylighters of New York.
For those interested in the livestock and the animals that come in from across Erie County, this year's fair will feature an event called Youth Livestock Expo, which allows for kids around the country to come to Western New York and show as a youth exhibitor against other youth exhibitors. It also allows the kids to compete in front of world-renowned judges and for high premiums.
"The really cool piece of this is that if out of the four market species, one kid can win grand champion, out of three out of the four, they win a $10,000 scholarship. If another child, or maybe even that same child can win showmanship in three out of the four market species, they too will win a $10,000 scholarship," Underberg explained. "It's our way to give back to the kids that work really, really really hard and are able to prove themselves in the show ring. But it's not just about the show ring. They will be doing marketing competitions, interviews, there'll be doing poster competitions. They have to compete in a piece of the competitions outside of the show ring, so that they can compete for the sweepstakes award. It's been a pretty cool added piece to the livestock area that has brought in kids from as far away as Virginia. So we have our typical Western New York kids who are doing a great job through FFA and 4H, but we're bringing in this other element, as well."
In addition, the fair has combined its Market Sale Auction into one day this year on Saturday, Aug. 20.
"The pre-event starts at two o'clock, and the event itself, bidding goes off at 3 p.m.," Underberg said. "If people are looking to put good quality meat in your freezer at a relatively inexpensive price, and support a Western New York youth kid that is really dedicated, that's a good way to do it."
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
While many of the organizers of the fair are happy to be back at work at the fairgrounds, many of the local vendors and volunteers are also eager to get back to it.
"We're excited to be back," said Jim Staub of Hamburg, owner of Jim's Deep Fried Tacos and Jim's Fries. "This is a hometown fair for us, it's got that hometown feel. We've got great help, a lot of local great kids that come help us out through the year, which we really like."
"I took off two weeks with my full-time job just to be here to put into it," admitted Terri Szuflita of Buffalo. "I get myself involved in as many of the buildings as I can. Creative Arts, Woodworking, Ag Grange, and anywhere they need me. I love it."
Many at this year's Erie County Fair are also looking forward to getting a chance to educate those checking out a number of different exhibits. For Barry Flansburg of Albion, he's already gearing up for the influx of people that will walk through the Agricultural Discovery Center.
"We have our sugar houses here, we have demonstrations there. New this year, we have our Erie County Fair Orchard. This is a fabulous exhibit about apples produced. It's a walk through, interactive, see things. This is great, you'll walk through this a bunch of times," said Flansburg on Tuesday. "We also have our ducks back this year on our Duck Slide. We've got baby chicks in the incubator. We've got a couple Nigerian Dwarf goats. Out back, we have our Dairy Row, where we have our five calves. We've got a heifer that's a year old to show the difference between what they are as a calf one-year-old, and then we have our cows here that will be having calves. So hopefully we've got everything going this year, we hope everybody comes out."
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
For Staub, this year's fair will be similar to last season's event with maybe the exception of seeing a few more faces than before. When it comes to what's on the menu, it's making sure to stick with things that work.
"We're killing it right now where we're at, so we're gonna stick with our classic. Our classic go-to is your beef," Staub said.
"Your classic beef, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese, taco sauce, hot sauce, a little special spice in there. That's your classic go-to, but I mean, you could step it up and get a grande. If you don't want to deep fry it and you want to get a salad, something on a nice warm day to keep you refreshed. So we've got everything from salads to grandes to deep fried tacos. And down at our fries stand, we've got fresh cut fries, sweet potatoes, pierogis, boneless wings. We've got a little bit everything here."
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
When it comes to some of the favorite things for vendors and volunteers surrounding the Erie County Fair, there was one resounding response that everyone is looking forward to: The interactions with the fairgoers.
"It's seeing people, being interactive, answering their questions, showing a lot of people things they've never seen and being able to answer questions," said Flansburg. "Again, this is 12 days of just a big family reunion. Everyone in Western New York, Erie County is here. It's a chance to get together, celebrate. It's one of the best fairs in the country."
"Getting to talk to them, where they came from, why they're here. Some people I know, they met here, they've been married. They were married because they meant here, some people were married here at the fair, we know under the Ferris Wheel," Szuflita added. "That's what I love. And I get new recipes, I get to talk to people, new ideas. It's totally the people."
While many of the organizers and vendors will be hard at work throughout the duration of the fair, they, of course, get their opportunities to have some down time to explore the fairgrounds.
"I like to get into the Creative Arts Building and the Competitions Building, see what the neighbors, your neighbors, my neighbors, what their talents are," Underberg said. "I can't even draw a stick figure, so when I look at pieces of art that somebody's painted or drawn, I'm always in awe, or that fantastic quote that you walk by and go, 'Man, that'd look really good in my living room.'"
Another popular option for local vendors to take part in while away from their work includes one of the most popular tents at any fair in Western New York year-in and year-out.
"We're on our feet all day, so what do we do? We go down to 'I Got It', we'll take break at 'I Got It', and we'll throw the 'I Got It' ball," Staub said. "My daughter, she's five, and she says 'Besides the tacos at the fair, we go play 'I Got It'. That's a go-to."
Check out some more photos ahead of Wednesday's opening for the Erie County Fair:
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
