Tag: North Carolina State Fair

2024 “Top 30 State Fairs” List

New: 2024 “Top 30 State Fairs” List

Do you love state fairs like we do? Check out our new 2024 “Top 30 State Fairs” list. This second annual compilation is based exclusively on two factors: per day attendance numbers (total 2023 attendance divided by total days open) and their baking competitions (history of past Blue Ribbon Group special contests). Our other criteria? They have to take place the second half of the year, the Blue Ribbon Group official state fair season.

All 30 fairs on our best state fair list have higher per day attendances than any other U.S. state fair happening July to October each year. Attendances ranged from 27K to 153K for per day averages (based on top 30 list). That is A LOT of people through the gates each day. All take place in the second half of the year, with the majority happening in August and September. The State Fair of Texas has the highest total attendance – 2.5 million – but since it’s spread out over twice as many days as Minnesota and others, it lands in the 4^th “best state fair” spot.

Big E Fair Added for 1st Time: Lands in Top 10

New to our “Top 30 State Fairs” list is the Big E, the biggest fair in Massachusetts. I lands in the # 8 spot. The Big E is considered America’s only multi-state fair and is the largest in the whole NE region. As a result, we count the Big E as a state fair. It represents all of New England with entertainment, unique foods, competitions, and more. Per research, the Big E’s Massachusetts State Exhibition Hall literally pays homage to all six New England states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We have had many cookie contests at the Big E in years past. Welcome to our best state fair list Big E!

The other biggest changes with our list:

Attendance leapt at many of the fairs, especially at Kentucky (up 14 percent) and at Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York, among others
Total attendance for all 30 top fairs jumped from 22.2 million fairgoers to 23.5 million
We narrowed the top 30 list to only have official state – or multi-state – fairs.
At the same time, we added 20 runner-up best fairs, an Honorable Mention list.

2024 Honorable Mention U.S. Fairs:

For the first time, we also compiled an “honorable mention list” of sorts, to include the largest county and regional fairs we have worked with over the years. This gives our list greater/deeper representation of the entire country. Six land on the West Coast. Six land in the Northeast. The rest span the entire continental U.S.

Daily average attendance numbers range from 94K to 10K per day, which is how they are ranked here.

Since 2006, Blue Ribbon Group has managed special recipe contests at large state, county and regional fairs. Find a collection of winning recipes at BlueRibbonGroup.net and featured on BlueRibbonFoodies on Instagram and Facebook.

2023 “Top 30 State Fairs” List

As long-time state fair baking/cooking contest managers, the Blue Ribbon Group is excited to share, for the first time publicly, our 2023 “Top 30 State Fairs” list. With this list we offer our answer to the often-asked question: What are the best state fairs in the United States?

This new compilation is based exclusively on two factors: per day attendance numbers (total 2022 attendance divided by total days open) and their baking competitions (history of past Blue Ribbon Group special contests). All 30 fairs have higher per day attendance than any other U.S. state fairs happening July to October each year.

Top 10

Topping this 2023 “Top 30 State Fairs” list is the Minnesota State Fair, followed by the Tulsa State Fair, State Fair of Texas, Iowa State Fair, and Wisconsin State Fair. Here are the top 10, listed in order, followed by the complete list noting each fairs’ dates and attendance numbers.

Minnesota State Fair
Tulsa State Fair
State Fair of Texas
Iowa State Fair
Wisconsin State Fair
North Carolina State Fair
Oklahoma State Fair
Ohio State Fair
New York State Fair
Illinois State Fair

Awesome Attendance Numbers

Attendance numbers in 2022, ranged from 26,224 to 153,519 for per day averages, and 287,367 to 2,500,000 for overall total attendances.
All take place between July and November, with the majority happening in August, September and October.
All are official state fairs with two caveats. The Tennessee State Fair and Wilson County Fair essentially merged in 2021, with the Wilson County Fairgrounds location becoming it’s home. The Salem Fair is the largest in Virginia with a 350,000 attendance in 2022.

Blueberry Pie

No matter how you slice it, this blueberry pie is delicious! And it’s a gorgeous one as well.

You use fresh blueberries in the filling. Sugar, a pinch of salt, and a few tablespoons of fresh lime juice gives it a perfect balance of flavors and perfect level of sweetness. You thicken the filling with cornstarch.

Derrick Lingle won 1st place with it at the North Carolina State Fair. The win was an impressive feat, with this fair being one of the largest in the country. (Find our top 30 list here.)

Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie

The winner’s easy-to-follow crust directions help ensure a lovely lattice crust. Find the recipe below for step by step tips. Derek likes to make his top and bottom crust separately. The top crust is thicker for easy handling. The bit of extra effort pays off with how impressive it looks when you’re done.

When you’re craving an amazing fruit pie, this is a go-to recipe for sure. July and August is blueberry picking time in Minnesota, but fortunately, you can find great tasting blueberries in stores year-round. One taste of this and you’ll know why it won. Bake it today.

Find more pie recipes by searching for pie on our blog landing page here. Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Dreamy Creamy Raspberry Pie

This dreamy creamy raspberry pie is true to its name. The “always-heavenly” heavy cream and cream cheese ingredients give this pie it’s richness. You use both frozen and fresh raspberries. Featuring this fruit makes the raspberry flavor a co-star to the cream. Each bite is divine thanks to the pie’s five layers.

Five Easy Layers

pie crust
baked “cheesecake”
raspberry filling
whipped cream cheese
fresh raspberries

Everything goes inside a fabulous and flaky pie crust, homemade with cold butter and ice cold water, plus flour, salt, sugar, of course. And as always, if you’re in a time crunch (or have no interest in mastering your “pie crust from scratch” skills), a pre-made crust works too. No questions asked. No judging 😊

The pie’s bright color is eye-catching for sure, making it a scrumptious sweet treat for Valentine’s day…or any special day of the year for that matter. You can see all the layers well in this slice’s close up. (Personally, this pic makes me want to lick the screen. And I find the raspberries almost hypnotizing on top.)

Worth the Wait

Because of the chill times, this dreamy creamy raspberry pie will take a few hours to make, but please do not let that intimidate you. The raspberry filling thickens easily and the creamy layers are easy to whip up. For the crust, you use a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, opt for a pastry blender. Just be sure to keep the butter cold and water ice cold. The crust bakes beautifully and the delicious layers give it a complexity that wows the senses.

State Fair Winner

Recipe credit goes to Emily Olsen, who created it for the North Carolina State Fair, Gold Medal Flour best pie contest (2015). She won a red ribbon, and we are so glad she did! Make this one as soon as possible!

-Cyndi