Why does Iowa have a state fair in the middle of August?

[misanthrope]

I thought state fairs usually occurred after harvest was done. Shouldn't that mean autumn?

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Utah's is in September.

[Teach29]

2. I always thought of them as summer events.

New York's is always the last 2 week of August, ending on Labor Day.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. They get better attendance if they're not done during the school year. The later in summer, the

more families you'll lose during the week.

[jpak]

9. In Maine, back in the day, we had Wednesday off from school during Fair Week in September

Good Times.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. And Bangor's fair is in July.

[bluedigger]

25. We only got Wednesday afternoons off in Farmington.

Of course, the fairgrounds was only about eight blocks from the middle school, so we pretty much lived there all the time anyways.

[jpak]

56. We had all day in Jay

Ha ha.

[Blue_true]

34. Good point.

Having the fair just before school starts sounds like a good plan, kids get that last summer fling before going back to school.

I have seen well attended fairs, but typically they were medieval fairs very near heavily populated urban areas, lots of painters and sculptors selling their work.

[pstokely]

50. some places begin school during the state fair

tourism lobby in MO forced them to move to the beginning of school to no more than 2 weeks before Labor Day starting in 2020

[luvs2sing]

4. In Ohio, they are almost all in August.

I think only one or two counties are in September.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Minnesota's is at the end of August.

Harvest occurs at different times in different areas and for different crops. Corn wouldn't be harvested yet in most corn-growing states but August-September is the peak time for a lot of other crops, especially vegetables. The other important thing is that school hasn't started yet in most places, and fairs depend a lot on student workers and attendees.

[LakeArenal]

6. You would be incorrect.

It doesn’t mean harvest. It means animals that have been raised and pies and flowers and a lot more than crop production.

[sobenji]

7. Most of them are in August

Including Indiana

[JI7]

8. because people are on vacation then and less likely to rain

[book_worm]

10. Wisconsin has its state fair in August, too--

Lots of states have them in the summer when kids are out of school.

[SlogginThroughIt]

11. no MN state fair is end of august

[CanonRay]

12. Illinois was in August

[Bettie]

13. State Fairs are

in summer when kids are off school.

[madaboutharry]

14. They are in August so that you will be hot and miserable.

[luvs2sing]

60. Exactly!

[Codeine]

15. I don't even know why we have August.

Fuck summer. It’s going to be 104F tomorrow. I can’t even.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

41. Chinese hoax will end with tariffs. Believe me.

Climate wars are easy to win.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Harvest depends more on climate zone than month. :)

[librechik]

18. cuz that's when the crops arrive!

no sweet corn in June--

[ornotna]

19. Florida State Fair is in Feb.

More snowbirds to fleece. One in August would be completely unbearable.

[lpbk2713]

20. It's always been in February.

That's when the citrus and the strawberries start to come in.

And it has always marked the date when Barnum & Bailey
road shows would hit the road from their winter quarters.

[ms liberty]

32. And has always coincided with Gasparilla Day

When I was a kid Gasparilla Day was a school holiday with the parade and everything, and so it was also a big day to go to the fair. At that time the fairgrounds were in downtown Tampa, my dad worked about a block away. I was a teenager I think when the fairgrounds moved out off I-4.
It always rained too, because after all, it was February in Tampa. Didn't they shift it to a few weeks later at one point, maybe in the 80's I think?

[lpbk2713]

45. I remember the Fair being close to downtown.

There was even a race track. The schools gave a day off
because they knew everyone would skip school anyway.

[Blue_true]

35. Where do you find Florida strawberries here in Florida?

In the markets, all I see available are imported or from California.

Are the berries U-pick?

[lpbk2713]

44. Mostly in the Plant City/Dover area.

For info: https://flstrawberryfestival.com/

[JimGinPA]

21. The Pennsylvania State Farm Show Is At The End Of January

Indoors at the Farm Show Complex, lasting about 2 weeks. I could never figure the timing of that one either. For years it seemed like there was a blizzard ever year while it was going on.

[Blue_true]

36. Is the focal point of the fair spring planting.

A lot of garden and home improvement shows are doing the winter.

[Kaleva]

22. Heat and humidty has a great effect on how aromatic farm animal shit is

[LuvNewcastle]

55. That's it!

You've got to breathe in the aroma of shit or it's not a real fair.

[Roland99]

23. Ky's is in August too

[bluedigger]

24. Because the kids have money from tasseling the corn which isn't ready yet for harvest.

Farmers are too busy later in the fall.

[democratisphere]

26. NY is in August.

[AJT]

27. Wisconsin's is in August too. There's nothing like 90 degrees and

humid on asphalt to make you want to walk around for hours eating fried food on a stick. .

[GulfCoast66]

28. Trying to remember my studies in Agriculture from 30 years ago.

August was actually a slow month on the farm in the Midwest and upper south.

Crops were not hybrids and there was no such thing as grain dryers. They had to dry in the field. Corn especially. The crops maturity and weather meant harvest did not really get going until late September early October. And once harvest hit no one had any time. Post harvest was also slow but the weather prevented many people from traveling. Remember, they got to the fair under horse power and herded their show animals.

The calves and lambs were old enough to fend for themselves. Pigs always fend for themselves!

Pretty much the same reason our election is in early November. Crops were in and the weather had not turned too bad.

The farming pattern shaped this and all nations for centuries.

[Hortensis]

39. Terrific. I love that very basic reasons like calves old enough

to fend for themselves still shape our customs in spite of enormous changes. Long ago in college I thought of majoring in geography, interested in how it shaped human affairs, but it was supposed to have become increasingly irrelevant in the modern world. Hah! Hasn't worked out that way.

[LeftInTX]

42. Texas has their state fair in Sept

Hot as hell and crops need irrigating. Most farms have spring and fall growing season. The fall crops are just getting started. Livestock need water too.

[GulfCoast66]

43. But was it like that when they started the fair?

I’d imagine the Texas state fair goes back till the late 1800’s early 1900’s. Not going to google it for conversation purposes. Back then there was no center pivot irrigation or even deep well irrigation. That didn’t come about till the 60’s. I would guess only east Texas had much row cropping anyway as it is more like northwestern Louisiana where my family lived. Probably cotton and corn in areas where the climate allowed. West Texas and even the Hill country was all about livestock. And gives us great Brisket bbq!

And never underestimate what seed hybridization did for farmers. Yield went up and time to harvest way down. Not talking GMO. Just good breeding.

And in East Texas, without grain dryers harvesting corn in August or even September meant rotten grain in the bin. It had to dry in the field and afternoon thundershowers don’t allow that. I bet they did not really start harvesting till October going into November. Don’t count out climate change as well.

My mother was raise north of Shreveport Louisiana. Harvest there was an October thing. September was still summer.

On edit: They would not kill their lard pigs till before Thanksgiving and sometimes after. Even up till Christmas. Too hot an the fried cracklings were a holiday treat.

[LeftInTX]

49. The state fair actually starts the last week of Sept and goes through October 20.

My bad. (It's held 300 miles away in Dallas) I always thought it was a Sept thing.

[misanthrope]

46. Interesting because Mobile's Gulf State Fair and Birmingham's Alabama State Fair

have been in October as long as I've known about them. I don't know what the big one in the Tennessee Valley is or when it is.

[GP6971]

29. This year WA State Fair

is Aug 30th through Sep 22nd. Traditionally starts the last weekend in August and runs for 3 weeks.

[kimbutgar]

31. California has their state fair in late August early September

It’s hot as hell in Sacramento that time of year.

[panader0]

33. Why is Octoberfest always in September?

[Quemado]

38. Basically, to take advantage of September's warmer weather

per https://vinepair.com/articles/celebrate-oktoberfest-september/

I lived in Germany for two years, about 40 miles west of Munich. I've been to the Oktoberfest about seven or eight times. Munich is cooler in October than it is in September.

[Celerity]

59. in Munich it runs though the first weekend in October nt

[FBaggins]

37. One factor I haven't seen mentioned

State fairs often have some permanent facilities, but it’s still true that many of the rides/shows/food are part of traveling shows that can only be one place at a time. Some states have to be at the end of the run.

[LeftInTX]

40. Texas' in Sept..too hot..no harvest

But our county fair (rodeo) is in February.
Even in February we've run into heat issues. I was working in a plant sale booth and almost died.

[dawg day]

47. Indiana's is going on right now-- Always in August

There are many kids involved (raising livestock, etc), and they're off school still.

[xmas74]

48. Missouri is right now.

This allows kids in 4H, FFA, etc the opportunity to show at the fair without missing school. And for those students living in towns surrounding the fair they get that last huge opportunity to work a couple of long weeks before school starts.

I remember kids carpooling the 30 minutes to work. The money was always better than average because it was all temp work. Kids would park cars,get a tip. They'd work all the concessions and have tip jars. They'd work housekeeping in hotels and get tips. I waited tables for 3 weeks every year for a few years at a 24 hour Shoney's and would clean up, especially on concert nights, tractor pulls or monster car rallies. That money paid for school clothes and supplies.

[pstokely]

51. most MO schools start this week, but won't be able to start more than 2 weeks before Labor Day

starting in 2020, Ozarks resorts and Silver Dollar City needs a couple of more weeks of cheap teenage labor

[xmas74]

57. But they didn't always start so early.

And many districts don't start until midweek or even Thursday. Several of those will have half days this week.

My daughter always started with a half day on Thursday, first full day Friday. All of the major showing is mostly done by now for 4H and FFA. Some might be waiting on grand champion decision but that's a very small amount while others are waiting on bids, which can be done while in class.

I eventually need to get off my ass and start a submission project for next year. I always say I'm doing it but life gets in the way. I'd also need to cut off my nails to complete it since they tend to get in the way and I'm feeling a bit lazy.

[pstokely]

62. most schools didn't have AC until about 10 years ago

staring in mid August allows them have HS finals before winter break and balanced semesters, also gives them more time for state standardized tests and AP exams, now they'll won't be able to have HS finals before the winter break with balanced semesters

[Liberty Belle]

52. California's was in July this year.

I suppose summer is when families with kids can attend easily, and also when it's least apt to rain.

https://www.castatefair.org/schedule/?3_route=/client-embeds/ca-state-fair-2019/1/3/__/&

[MFM008]

53. Western Washington

State fair starts around the 10th of September.
I havent gone since the 90s.
To much walking.

[mindem]

54. The fairs are heavily centered

toward kids in 4-H. Even the adults compete in the open class during fairs. It's really a summer thing.

[lame54]

58. We just finished our fair just outside sacramento

[EllieBC]

61. NYS, which has one of the best state fairs, has theirs in August in the lead up to Labor Day.

Here in BC we have the PNE which begins this weekend.

If they were in September, less people might be able to attend because most people take vacation time in summer. And school is out too.