Arkansas

I believe this is the first time we have arrived at a fair on opening day at the opening ceremonies. Being a weekday, the Arkansas State Fair opened its gates at 4PM. Just prior to opening, several dignitaries, including the Fair President, the Arkansas Governor, and a US Senator for Arkansas (all Republicans!) held a small ceremony just inside the gate, but near enough to view from where we were standing #8 an #9 in line. Other dignitaries such as Arkansas beauty queens, the Little Rock mayor and others were there as well. They cut the ribbon and had the obligatory photo op with the press. The gates opened at 4:05, then we paid our money and stood waiting for their broken computer system to print our tickets. 10 minutes later they finally let us in without tickets. Opening day can be a problem because not all exhibits are open yet, and not all livestock has arrived. In spite of that, there was plenty to see.

We started at the petting zoo which had a few more animals than other recent small fairs. The owner mentioned that it was their company that had the pig races at the Mississippi Fair (which we saw from a distance, but did not sit down to watch while we were there). The midway was extensive although there was at least one ride that was not fully assembled yet. We then walked through the sheep barns and arena. The rabbit barn had a couple dozen rabbits in it, although we were told a lot more would be arriving in a few days. The cow barns were at least halfway occupied. The equine and poultry facilities were empty. All of the livestock barns were on the side of a big hill overlooking the midway, which made for a good hike to see all of them. We then looked over an extensive Mahindra tractor display on our way into the crafts exhibit. The crafts were very nicely displayed all around the edges of the large building and at the front there was a stage with about 5 kitchens set up for cooking competitions (that would be starting the next day).

From there we saw the fair museum which was in a newer building and had an excellent collection of fair media and photos from the 1800s to present. There was only one vendor building but it was quite large and had the whole variety of merchants and organizations. Inside their arena, a “Rock & Roll” museum of sorts was set up, showcasing many bands that had played there in the past. The arena was set up for the upcoming cattle competitions, though no one was in there that night. There was a large stage set up for several bands that would be playing throughout the fair and a few shows to sit and watch, including the Moogician and Wildlife Wendy’s bird show. We missed the Moogician, but were able to catch the bird show shortly before we were ready to leave the fair. There were two other shows that would have been the most enjoyable, but of course did not start until the 2nd day of the fair…”Sea Lion Splash” and “Arkansas Circus Arts”. Toward the end of the fair, there was to be several competitions for things like Rodeo Princess.