Affordability a main focus for 2026 Erie County Fair

Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 2026 Erie County Fair opens this Wednesday at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, and organizers for the "12 Best Days of Summer" have focused on making this year's event more family-friendly on your wallet.

Through strategic budgeting and collaboration with food vendors, ride provider Strates Shows and suppliers, the Erie County Fair has lowered admission prices, and introduced additional savings opportunities for food and rides throughout the Fair in 2026.

"We took a good hard look after the fair, we looked at all the surveys that came back to us - whether it was guest surveys or vendor surveys, because we survey everybody after the fair to find out what was good, what was not good, what can we improve on. And the resounding response we got was, 'It's expensive,'" said CEO of the Erie County Agricultural Society, Jessica Underberg. "We took a three-pronged approach - We couldn't just change pricing at the gate and not take a good look at the pricing of food and the pricing of rides, and we couldn't just change one of those aspects without changing the gate."

While pre-sale tickets just went offline back on Aug. 7, admission for this year's Fair is $19, which Underberg says is still $2.60 cheaper than last year. However, there are options this year to help reduce costs to enter the gates.

"We brought back the early bird pricing. So if a guest comes to the gate between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and buys a ticket right then and there, and they use it right then and there - they have to use it right then and there - it'll cost them $16," said Underberg in an interview with WBEN. "We have a day, the second Wednesday, two admissions for $30 - buy one, get one.

Additional savings opportunities are available on select days, including Opening Day, Senior Discount Day, Firefighters Day, Veterans Day, Taste of the Fair and Double the Fun Gate Discount Day.

Children 12-and-under will continue to receive free admission when accompanied by a responsible adult, while parking will continue to be free for the event.

Then once guest gets inside the gate, it's about the food and the rides.

Recognizing that food is one of the primary reasons guests attend the Fair, Underberg says officials worked with food concessionaires to offer value-priced options throughout the grounds.

"Every food vendor is going to offer something for $7 or less," Underberg explained. "Whether it's that half of a sandwich option, maybe the $15 full sandwich, they can't eat the whole sandwich, and then if they do, they're not hungry for anything else. So maybe the $7 half sandwich is a better option for them. Kind of like the value menu option when you go to different fast food restaurants. There's the full burger with all the toppings and all the things, and there's the less expensive burger on the side with less toppings or something like that. But a price point that maybe is more appealing to everybody."

Underberg also reminds fairgoers they're still allowed to bring coolers with food and non-alcoholic beverages for the day.

"We're one of the few events of this size that still allows that, and we encourage that," she noted. "We have so many park spaces that people can leave their cooler, go enjoy the fair, come back as their meeting point, eat lunch out of the cooler, and then maybe buy their dinner at the fair or vice versa."

The Fair also worked with Strates Shows to create new opportunities for families to save on Midway rides.

The first promotion comes Thursday, Aug. 13 with $2 Rides Day, all day long.

"You have some kids that are all different ages, and you're not sure how long you can spend at the fair, or you're not sure how long the little tyke is gonna last. That's the day. Bring bring $2 a ride, get on the Ferris wheel, get on the merry-go-round. Ride as a family, get that picture of grandma and grandpa and the little ones on the merry-go-round, and it's not gonna cost you as much as a ride band that you would spend all day riding. So that's a super great promotion. Everybody can get on a few rides at that price point," Underberg said.

The second offer from Strates offered is the Sunday Matinee Pay-One-Price Wristband for just $30.

"Both Sundays between noon and 5 p.m., families can purchase a $30, Pay-One-Price option," Underberg explained. "What's important about that is that's the first time we're offering a pay one price option for a weekend. We heard from our guests saying, 'We can't get there on weekdays,' when we traditionally offer our pay one price options. That's been exciting."

Faced with economic uncertainty and rising consumer prices, Underberg felt these changes were important not only for 2026, but for the long-term health of the Fair.

"I'm glad that we took that step, especially now knowing what the economy is like now," Underberg said.