One of the cool things about living in Buffalo is not just all the things that make Our Fair City cool, but our connections to cool things and places nearby. Buffalo denizens are in the catbird seat when it comes to day trips as close as Niagara Falls and East Aurora, to Chautauqua, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Even New York City can be done as a day trip.
One of the coolest day trips you can take this time of year couldn’t be easier and more unique: the New York State Fair by rail. Throw fixins for a picnic lunch in a backpack, head downtown (hop on your favorite metro transit route), and you can depart Buffalo first thing in the morning and return early enough to get a good night’s sleep (if that’s your thing). And best of all, from downtown right to the gates of the fair, you’re traveling entirely by train. Is there a better way to travel?
Last weekend I ventured on this adventure with my favorite partner-in-adventure. The train arrived at the State Fairgrounds right on time, delivering us and a dozen or so others in comfort and style right to an entrance. A few feet from the tracks was an Amtrak/Fair welcome center where friendly folks welcomed us, put guides and maps in our hands, loaded us on a tram, and got us underway. Neither my companion nor I had a clue to what awaited, as this was the first visit to the Fair for both of us.
And the Fair did not disappoint. Opening the guide and looking at the day’s events, the first thing that jumped off the page was that a friend of my companion was giving a soap-making demonstration in just 15 minutes. So we made our first destination the Agricultural Building and used that as a basis for further exploration.
From there we visited a series of exhibit halls and buildings, each one seeming larger than the one before. One was called–I kid you not–the Poultry Building, and it must have been hands-down the state’s largest henhouse before the era of the factory farm. They even had a rooster crowing competition there–not something you get to see (and hear) everyday.
Another building was identified by a 1920’s bronze plaque as the “Sheep and Swine” building–and inside we found farm animals of every description, including some friendly goats like this one:
…while in another building dedicated to cattle were these Dutch Belted dairy cows, which everyone called the “Oreo Cookie” cows (and not just because Oreos go great with milk!):
And every kind of farm product you can imagine was represented, as well. This butter sculpture, at the center of the Dairy Products Building, was so mobbed, all day, that you had to wait to get a look at it. Didn’t notice any butter lambs in the sculpture (sorry, Martin), but lots of butter cows.
The food? It is awesome, it is everywhere, and it is oh-so-rich. Sensitive vegetarians and vegans might want to skip this paragraph! The Anchor Bar is there this year for the first time. But we opted instead for Dinosaur BBQ, hot beef sundaes (this is a dish that would RULE at the Broadway Market), and maple ice cream. Yum!
The State Fair’s roots go back nearly 170 years, to the mid-19th Century. The New York State Fair, similar to many of our county fairs, started as a strictly agricultural event, and proudly shows those roots today. By the early 20th Century, the Fair had added characteristics of the great international expositions, including midway carnival rides, performances, and product demonstrations. Unlike the international expos, which made a point of bringing the world (and the world’s products and cultures) to the expo city, the State Fair was intended to draw the world to New York State, and show off our culture and products.
The other tradition of the great expos was great architecture, and huge buildings–and our State Fairgrounds certainly reflects this legacy. Some of the most monumental and iconic buildings, such as the Coliseum, were constructed in the prosperous 1920s:
…as was my personal favorite, the Horticulture Building:
…and massive colonnades linking several of the buildings together:
Some of the buildings are large enough that you almost expect to find aircraft parked inside. This one held a sand submarine, piloted by John, Paul, Ringo, and George:
Our State Fairgrounds, operating as the Empire Expo Center, hosts year-round exhibits, trade shows, concerts, and sporting events, in addition to the annual Fair. In recent years, attendance at the Fair has been around a million people! Even recent controversies over leadership
haven’t seemed to dampen attendance and enthusiasm.
The New York State Fair remains the place where you can truly see people and things from all over the map of New York State–and even the map itself!
Get connected:
History
Encyclopedia of New York State
Syracuse.com
Let Amtrak whisk you from Our Fair City to Our State Fair–and back again:
Kids Ride Free to the New York State Fair! — Terms and Conditions
Depart
Buffalo-Exchange St. 7:43A 12:58P
State Fairgrounds 10:30A 3:49P
Return
State Fairgrounds 12:48P 3:28P 7:23P
Buffalo-Exchange St. 3:24P 6:16P 10:11P