South Dakota State Fair (Deadwood, Keystone: house, food, park)

[ashnat]

I've been to Iowa's state fair. I don't get why Nebraska and SDakota can't get it together!

[Jammie]

Do you mean that Nebraska's fair isn't that good either?

You know, I really have heard a lot of good about the Clay Co. Fair from people who have gone there. Several people in our area go there every year and say they really enjoy it.

[wantoutoftexas]

A couple of questions for you. of course everyone has heard of the texas state fair, they even made a movie about it. but I want to know about convience and cost. for example, I took a day off work last year, so I went in the middle of the week. I had to pay $10 to park 2 miles away and walk, then had to pay $14 to get in. and the ride tickets are $1 ea and the minumin to ride was 6 tickets, a corn dog was 5 tickets and dirnks were 3 tickets. so how does this compare to what you have up there ?

[Jammie]

Oh wow!!! Guess I wouldn't be going to fairs in Texas.

The Corn Palace Festival is free unless you want to go to a show and the costs are in the area of 20 to 35. There is no fee for parking. If you get there late and it's crowded, you can park at my place and walk two miles to get up there. That would be no charge. But generally you can find a place to park within about a half mile of the midway. No charge.

I don't know how much it costs to get into the Sioux Empire Fair. We had tickets to the Chicago concert so the gate admission was free. I believe the tickets were something like 30 apiece, but we ordered them from the internet so they were about 75 for two of them. You park on the fairgrounds so that's also free.

I think the sign at the State Fair said that it costs 5 or 6 to get into the gate. But all you have to do is save a label from your H20 bottle because they are marked and you can get in for no charge. The cost of parking varies there. We saw signs that they were charging 2 and some places 3. There is some free parking, but of course that's taken up very early.

I don't know how much the rides cost, sorry. It seems like the pink lemonade was $2 per glass and a piece of pizza is 2.50. DH eats meat so he always gets a couple of brats and they're around $4 each. He also likes to have chislic~a dozen in Sx. Falls was $4, I think~in Huron it was $8.

Guess you'll be going to a lot of fairs up here, won't you?

[grace1202]

And not to sound dumb, but where is the Turner Co. fair~what town?

Jammie,

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience at the State Fair. We used to go to the State Fair quite often when I was growing up. Also, I went to HS with Jerome Hertel, the State Fair Manager, (I haven't seen him since our last class reunion in '03) in Parker, SD - home of the Turner Co. Fair. It is relatively small but it is a nostalgic, small town experience. It is usually held mid-August. Give it a try next year...it's only about an hour from Mitchell.

[debey]

as far as rides on the midway, a ''all you can ride'' bracelet, for a 4yr old was $22. tickets, for the same rides, were $1 each, with rides being 3-5 tickets, each.
My hubby paid $3 for a rootbeer(had to ASK for ICE!)...we mamaged to park, for free, but it was a good ''hike'' to get to a gate, to get in.

[nanjosbrand]

When you all decide to check out the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, the admission is $10 per adult. You park in people's yards for $5-8 depending on the hours of the day and day of the week. There is some street parking, so if you know where to go or you're lucky or you like to walk a lot, you can park for free.
You can go to the midway and get ride tickets for all day, you can ride on the skyway tram, or Ye Old Mill. The Ye Old Mill is an Iowa State Fair classic.
I am a little too partial when it comes to the Iowa State Fair. The musical "State Fair" is actually based off the Iowa State Fair. You will find the Iowa State Fair promoted in many travel magazines because it truly shows off the pride of the Midwest.

[wantoutoftexas]

yes, I look forward to going to all the fairs around the area. and any other festivals and events.

[MJ1986]

Jammie, that stinks about your experience at the State Fair. How old were the employees? Were most of them high schoolers or were they older? I haven't been to the State Fair in probably 5 or 6 years. I usually had a good time there with my family. I can't really remember how the employees acted, but I wonder if things have changed since then. I know that the State Fair has kinda been on a downhill run in recent years.

The Brown County Fair is a pretty good fair, in my opinion. They usually have decent concerts, especially if you like country music. It's a large fair too and attracts people from all over. And the employees aren't rude .

I'd like to go to the Turner County Fair one of these years... My aunt and uncle always rave about it.

[Chris19]

I strongly recommend the Turner County Fair. Although there has been more people recently and feels a little more crowded, the fair is good in maintaining the small-town feel of the fair and keeping up with the growth in attendance. I was there this year and the parking is efficient. The fair has a group of young people who are giving input along with those who are older on the future of the fair to keep it a viable venue for many years to come.

Although prices have gone up some in recent years, the chislic and ice cream are awesome. They have been great for years, even since I was a wee little kid.

I can remember as a kid riding in the spinning strawberries and getting a little dizzy and petrified at the time. I was not too pleased at the moment, but I chuckle at it now. I can remember that the demolition derby was amusing to watch.

The 4-H booth is interesting to look at and my favorite part is the art and photography being displayed. There were some neat landscape photos. With my love for travel and scenery, it was my place.

I was bummed this year that the Democrats booth ran out of Obama stickers, but at least they had Johnson and Herseth stickers and a flyswatter bearing the name of the local politician running for office. I once came across John Thune last year and shook his hand and was good to meet him and he is a Republican that I like and respect overall.

The Turner County fair, like most other fairs, are interesting in the fact the one comes across a wide cross section of people. It is sometimes interesting observing that. Through the numbers of people, I usually bump into at least dozen or so people I know.