The Colorado State Fair is an event held annually in late August in
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. The
state fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in ...
has been a
tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...
since October 9, 1872.
The fairgrounds also host a number of other events during the rest of the year. Organizationally, the fair is one of the divisions of the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
History
When Colorado became a state in 1876, its state fair was already earning its place in history. In 1869, approximately two thousand people converged on what is now Pueblo for a horse exhibition; from that meager beginning was born the Colorado State Fair.
There were cancellations in 1917–18 and 1942–45. 2020 saw drive-thru fair food and limited exhibitions due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
.
In November 2019, the Colorado State Fair was audited by the
Colorado General Assembly
The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the '' Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...
. As reported in local media, the audit found that the Fair had lost money for the previous 21 years in a row, with deficits averaging $4 million per year between 2014–2018.
See also
*
Colorado Department of Agriculture
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is the principal department of the government of Colorado, Colorado state government that manages agriculture, food safety, agriculture-related consumer protection, and conservation districts. Kate Greenberg w ...
References
External links
*
Colorado Events and Festivals
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State fairs
Tourist attractions in Pueblo, Colorado
Festivals in Colorado
History of Colorado
Colorado culture
Annual fairs
August events
Fairs in the United States
Festivals established in 1872