Editor’s Note: The Illinois State Fair gets underway on Friday, and we’ll have you prepared. Want to extend your trip a bit? Check out our guide to a family-friendly Springfield getaway.
by Tara Burghart
If you live in Springfield, you either love the Illinois State Fair, or you hate it. My family was the former, making sure never to take a vacation around “fair time.” I so enjoyed the fair as a kid that I was jealous of my cousins, who lived near the fairgrounds and got to go to the fair every single day — or so they told me, at least.
Once you plan what days you want to visit, my first suggestion is to take a detailed look at the schedule of events and also to surf around the State Fair’s website, especially the tabs called “Rides & Attractions” and “Concerts & Entertainment.” There are all sorts of fun shows and exhibits to watch, but you have to be at the right place at the right time.
You know you're in Springfield when you see a giant Abe Lincoln. Photo by Max Wolfe on flickr
If you think your kids would enjoy the High Dive Show (it’s a fair classic) make sure to be in the Central Avenue area about 30 minutes before the show is scheduled to begin. That way, you can browse a bit, maybe get a snack or drink before snagging a seat. If you’ll be disappointed to miss the “Spam Mac & Cheese Contest” (and who wouldn’t?) you can plan your day around getting to the Hobbies, Arts & Craft Building in time to see all the action.
And don’t worry: This isn’t Disney World. It doesn’t take that long to get from one end of the fair to another, but planning ahead — and enjoying the fair in zones before moving onto the next area — will make for a happier family.
The Illinois Building/Senior Center can be a good spot to plan a rest, since it is air conditioned and has a theater where gymnastics teams, bands, choirs and dance studios perform. (Shameless plug alert: The Jan’s Dance Studio Dazzlers will be performing there on Friday, Aug. 13. Jan is my mom!) This building is also where the Illinois State Beekeepers Association sells small cups of delicious honey ice cream — made from honey from Illinois beehives — and exhibits an actual beehive, which should distract your kids while you secretly eat the last of the ice cream.
Another fun, restful activity you can do is watch harness racing from the shade of the Grandstand. (Free to get in, although you can bet on the races.)
Kids Korner probably won’t allow for much sitting down, but it will likely make your kids happy. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily inside the Emmerson Building’s south wing. The entertainment here includes face painting, a mural your kids can color on, a play area for tots, a puppet show, a magic show, a storyteller, marionettes, and various musical acts. This is also a great place to change your child’s diaper and/or nurse a baby, with a nursing area part of the Kids Korner amenities.
Here are a few things you can’t miss:
_The Dairy Building. This is where the famous Butter Cow lives during the fair, inside a refrigerated class case. It takes about 500 pounds of unsalted butter to sculpt the cow, which has been a tradition since the 1920s.
The butter cow is an Illinois State Fair tradition. Photo by aka Kath on flickr.
_Ethnic Village. In what seems like a very 1970s effort at multiculturalism, this area consists of a bunch of plywood shacks where vendors sell food representing about a dozen countries, often while some cultural groups entertain on a stage in the center of the village. (Romanian, Korean and Filipino are included on the menu this year, along with the more expected German, Jamaican and Greek.)
_If you want to get a nice overview of the fair, perhaps soon after you arrive, you can hop on a tractor-pulled tram through the streets or on the “Sky Glide” overhead.
_The Farmers Market Tent, located in the area called the Heartland, will be selling all sorts of fruit, garden salads, apple cider slush and something called an “egg on a stick.” Also in the Heartland area (near Gate 2) will be the Kid’s Ag-tivity tent, where kids can peddle tractors through a straw bale maze, watch baby chicks and play grocery games.
_Midway Rides is the carnival part of the fair, full of spinning rides and crane games and aimless teenagers. Adventure Village has rides for young kids and is located near the main gate, around the giant yellow slide. The giant slide, by the way, is something you should consider riding down together as a family, if your kids are big enough. It has the potential to be a silly, sweet memory for them.
View from the Sky Glide at the Illinois State Fair. Photo by Max Wolfe on flickr
The fair runs from Friday, Aug. 13 through Aug. 22, at the fairgrounds on the north side of Springfield. Admission: $5 for adults 13 and older; $2 for children ages 5 through 12; and kids under 5 get in free. (Veterans with ID and their families get in free on Aug. 15. The last day of the fair is Family Day, when all admissions are $2.) Park on the fairgrounds for $7; homeowners and businesses near the grounds turn their yards into private grassy parking lots and may charge a little less.
Springfield-area native Tara Burghart is a former Champaign-Urbana resident and University of Illinois graduate. She is the editor of the new website Go West Young Mom, which hopes to eventually be for the far western suburbs of Chicago what chambanamoms.com is for C-U.
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