The State Fair of Virginia is a
state fair held annually at the end of September at The
Meadow Event Park in
Doswell
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad (later, part of the C&O) at a crossing of ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
. Through 2008, the fair was held at the
Richmond Raceway Complex, located in eastern
Henrico County, just outside the capital city of
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
. It is owned by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.
The Fair has offered rides, carnival games, concerts, and typical fair foods such as cotton candy and funnel cakes as well as Virginia's favorites barbecue chicken and peanuts. The Fair has also offered technological, agricultural, historical, and livestock exhibitions and competitions, including pig races.
Several of the competitions offered scholarships to students that competed. Entertainment includes log-rolling, snake handling, magicians, pig races, chain sawing, and stilt-walking. Vendors sell clothing, belt buckles, and other items with novelty designs
The expositions have included: "Virginia World" which highlighted Virginia agricultural products, the better living center which hosted the arts & craft competition displays, the technology expo which highlighted Virginia technology industry, and "Young McDonald's Farm" which displayed a variety of young animals for the urban visitor to see. Additionally, one section of the Fair has included a "Heritage Village" which displayed Native American, African American, and Euro-American history in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Rides
There is a special section of the park with rides for children ages 4-5. Those ages 6-12 have all the options of the 4-5 year olds, plus the merry go round and the airplane rider which goes around in a circle at slow speed. All individuals 12 and up have access to all the rides as long as they are 61 inches or above.
History
The Fair moved to its new location in 2009 at the Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. This multi-use space of includes a exposition hall, a multi-purpose pavilion, a horse-stall barn with 143 stalls, and an equine facility with four show rings, to accommodate local and regional horse shows and other equine events. The Meadow Event Park is on the site of Meadow Farm, the
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
horse farm owned by
Christopher Chenery that was the breeding home of back-to-back
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...
greats
Riva Ridge and
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
, the winners of five of the six Triple Crown races in 1972 and 1973.
No fair was held in 1861–64, 1917–18, 1942–45 & 2020.
Farm Bureau Purchase
In March 2012, the fair's parent company filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, putting the fair on hold for the first time in its history. Reasons for the non-profit's bankruptcy included the high costs for converting Meadow Farm into Meadow Event Park. All events that the company ran were cancelled, except for the horse race at
Colonial Downs
Colonial Downs is a racetrack located in New Kent County, Virginia adjacent to Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg. The track conducted Thoroughbred flat racing and Standardbred harness racing between 1997 and 2014, and re ...
. On May 22, 2012, Universal Fairs, based in suburban Memphis, purchased the assets of State Fair of Virginia in bankruptcy court. In July 2012, the Virginia
Farm Bureau
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), also known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Inc. but more commonly just the Farm Bureau (FB), is a United States-based insurance company and lobbying group that represents the American agr ...
Federation purchased an ownership interest and partnered with Universal Fairs, who plan to continue the fair.
The Farm Bureau bought the remaining shares in 2013.
Virginia State Fair Sold To Virginia Farm Bureau Federation
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References
Further reading
*
External links
State Fair VA.orgMeadow Event Park.com
{{Virginia
History of Virginia
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
Virginia culture
Festivals established in 1854
1854 establishments in Virginia