We played hooky for the State Fair — you should, too
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The gluttony we got ourselves into last week. Photos: Sabrina Moreno/Axios
It's state fair season in Virginia, and locals have a few more days to zip up I-95 and check it out.
Why it matters: We recently skipped out of work on a weekday to do the fair — and think you should do the same.
The big picture: Each year, around 200,000 people descend on Meadow Event Park for the State Fair of Virginia and 10 days of rides, farm animals, massive produce and more:
- And each year, if social media is any indication, the bulk of those people go on the last Saturday — creating a gridlock that can leave drivers trapped in the parking lot for hours.
- That's why state fair organizers have come up with a simple solution — and incentive — to keep the traffic flowing: Go on a weekday, when tickets are cheaper.
By the numbers: A weekday fair visit will save you $4 per ticket at the gate and $3 on ride wrist bands. Buy either online and you can save a little more.
- There are even steeper weekday savings on select days for folks who go in the early afternoon and/or bring some canned goods.
Zoom in: Now that you've saved a few bucks, we've got you covered with how you should spend it on the best part of the fair: the food.
- Here are the must-try and should-skip dishes we sampled on our recent hooky day, presented in order of our preference.
🍟 Yum Chicken Hurricane Fry ($22, and worth every penny) was by far our favorite state fair dish — as delicious as it is artery-clogging.
- The massive pile of waffle and potato wedge fries, from vendor Fork'et Me Not, are topped with mac and cheese, fried chicken and yum yum sauce.
- It also won last year's "Flavor of the Fair" best dish contest.
🧇 Jalapeño Waffle ($10) from the new Chicken & Waffles stand gives a spicy kick to that maple syrupy sweetness.
- It's also made-to-order, and we personally saw the vendor reach his gloved hand into a vat of jalapeños and toss them into the batter.
🌭 Hot Cheeto-crusted corn dog ($8): We recommend taking some Tums before heading to Junkyard Dogs for this dish.
- The corn dog is generously dipped into gooey nacho cheese before being topped with crushed Hot Cheetos stored in a massive container.
- It looked so good that other fair vendors stopped us to ask what it was.
🐷 Butt fries ($13), which we had to try for the name alone.
- It's basically pulled pork on some fries with cheese and sour cream — and highly skippable.
- Butt… worth it just to tell people you got it.
🩺 Diabetic Funnel Cake ($9), which is a real thing, it turns out.
- The dish is a regular funnel cake, just made (and topped) with Splenda ... an ingredient that somehow makes the most classically delicious fair food nearly inedible.
- Pro tip: If you think fruit could make it more palatable, you'd be SOL at the fair. In the words of the vendor clerk, "Just so you know, the strawberries aren't diabetic." (It's pie filling.)
🤤 Honorable food mentions we didn't get to try but wish we had:
- The Frosted Flake chicken on a stick at Chicken & Waffles.
- Gator on a stick at Big G's.
- VSU catfish.
The bottom line: If you're planning to hit the fair this year, go on a weekday.
- And skip the butt fries; risk the diabetes.
If you go: The State Fair runs through Sunday from 10am-9pm at The Meadow Event Park.
Sabrina Moreno contributed to this report.