Funnel cake and Ferris wheels: Eastern Idaho State Fair offers food and fun for the family

Renee Shaktivel

Staff Writer

The Eastern Idaho State Fair began last Friday in Blackfoot.

Each state has its own celebration which exhibits various state and county fairs throughout the U.S. Idaho’s eastern tradition has been alive for over 115 years.

“I look forward to the fair more than anything this time of year,” said Regan Hicks, a junior philosophy major. “The first thing I always notice is the Ferris wheel.”

The fair began in 1904 when a few local men from Blackfoot held a livestock show. This became a local tradition and as the show continued to happen each year, it quickly developed into something much more than just a gathering for farmers. It became the fair in the modern-day sense, a family attraction of food and fun, just by adding a merry-go-round in 1906 and a visit from Teddy Roosevelt in 1912.

A lack of funds did cause a two-year hiatus until the Idaho Farm Bureau purchased local land and reopened the fair in 1920. Today, the Eastern Idaho State Fair attracts over 220,000 people during its eight-day run each year.

The 2018 fair season opened bigger than Eastern Idaho has seen with a performance Friday night by Montgomery Gentry at the Grandstand Arena.

Performances will be available throughout the days, and several events will be repeated daily such as shows put on by the hypnotist Lizzy the Dream Girl at 5 and 9 p.m., and the Idaho State Arm Wrestling Championship. The Penguin Olympic High Dive show can be seen at the West Events Area on Sept. 5, 6 and 7 at 2, 4 and 7 p.m. at the Northwest Farm Credit Free Stage.

Events have come a long way from the simple livestock show the fair started out as. Today, they are a commanding presence, with several 4-H shows every day at the Yellow Dairy Show Barn and Goddard Pavilion. Sheep, cattle, goats, lambs and other animals can be seen.

“I walk through the animal stalls every time I go, but they smell so I don’t stay too long,” Hicks said.

Larry the Cable Guy will make an appearance Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Grandstand Arena, and the week will end with the Indian Relays on Sept. 7 and 8. The event that makes the fair famous worldwide tribes throughout the Rockies and high plains compete on a bareback relay race of three to four people.

The entertainment and vendors are key to making the fair an annual event. Twelve new food items have been added to the fair menu, making a total of 70 food vendors selling everything from jalapeno popper burgers to baked potato ice cream.