Arizona State Fair

infobox festival
festival_name= Arizona State Fair
logo=


caption=
location= Phoenix, Arizona
years_active= 1884 - Present
dates= Oct. 12 - Nov. 4, 2007 (closed Monday)
genre= State fair
website= http://www.azstatefair.com/The Arizona State Fair is an annual state fair, held at a permanent fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. It was first held in 1884, but has had various interruptions due to cotton crop failure, the Great Depression era, and World War II years. Since 1946, the fair has been held regularly each year. It was a territory fair before Arizona was a state.

The Arizona Exposition and State Fair (official name) is a self-supporting state agency, and receives no monies from the state's General Fund. The fairgrounds serve as a host facility for a number of different tradeshows, events, and entertainment. The fairgrounds is the location for the Maricopa County Fair, the Arizona National Livestock Show, the Maricopa Home and Garden Show, and more.

The Fair typically has around 75 carnival rides, 110 food booths, and 300 commercial sales booths. The Arizona State Fair is one of the top 5 state fairs in the country drawing well over a million visitors annually.

2007 Fair

In 2007, the fair was held October 12 - November 4.

Concerts

History

1884 - 1891

The origins of the Arizona State fair start in 1884, when residents of the Arizona Territory organized the Arizona Territorial Fair to provide family entertainment. The fair was held near the banks of the Rio Salado (Salt River), just west of Central Avenue. Entertainment included horse, pony and mule races, while agriculture, cattle (dairy and beef) and home economics were the common exhibits.

The Territorial Fair continued annually at this location until 1891 when the Rio Salado flooded and wiped out the buildings and racetracks.

2006

Fair attendance was an all time high of 1,303,690 over the 21-day period running from October 13 - November 5.

External links

* [http://www.azstatefair.com Fair web site]