Free shows abound at the New York State Fair. Music, animal acts, acrobatics, comedy and even a big top circus await in eight weeks.
Month: June 2023
Get ready for a great day with your whole family when the New York State Fair opens in nine weeks.
Did you hear that country music icon Clint Black is appearing at a major upstate New York event in August?
No, it’s not the New York State Fair. 
The dynamic Black will play on Aug. 13 at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg. His 90s country contemporaries Clay Walker and Tracy Byrd are on the bill that night in what sounds like a terrific triple-bill for fans of that cowboy-hat era.
Meanwhile the State Fair’s hopelessly incompetent booking agency has signed yet another–you guessed it– rapper.
The recently-announced shows featuring bland pop-country singer Lainey Wilson and lounge-singer-turned-phony-patriot Lee Greenwood amount to a feeble attempt to appease fans of genuine country music. 
Many of us remember when Clint Black performed three very entertaining concerts at the State Fair grandstand in 1993, 1994 and 1998. That was back when they had a competent booking agent–the legendary Joe LaGuardia–instead of clueless outsiders.
With nine weeks left until opening day, it may be too soon to predict that the current itinerary of the Chevrolet Music Series will surpass last year as the worst Fair concert line-up in history. But the over-saturation of the Chevy stages–particularly Suburban Park–with rap “artists,” several sporting names that look like typographical errors, has gone way too far. Clint Black is one of many classic country acts that have been ignored for years by the Fair. Its lineup, as currently comprised, desperately needs balance and variety. Bringing in some classic country acts and other performers who can actually sing and play instruments is a good place to start.
It’s time to start looking forward to food. animals, parades, concerts and excitement when the 2023 New York State Fair opens in 10 weeks.
A recent article posted on the news website Current Central (If you’re not a reader, you should be) has inspired The Hound to once again bark up a favorite tree.
Reporter Chris Libonati writes that Onondaga County Exec Ryan McMahon is considering the possibility of implementing bus rapid and light rail as local transportation options. In terms of our perhaps- fanciful idea for use during the New York State Fair, we’ll focus on the light rail. 
Our understanding is that it would be a local-use train providing quick trips for commuters who may otherwise be driving a personal vehicle or taking a bus.
Libonati compares the rail plan to the OnTrack train routes that ran from 1994 to 2008. That train didn’t roll to the Fairgrounds, but it sure would be great to have that option. Driving and parking in Fair lots can be slow and frustrating, especially on high-attendance days and when a concert at the Amp complicates the approach.
It seems that the use of a train to deliver customers to the Fair would provide a fun, fast option that would keep cars off I-690 and State Fair Boulevard while freeing up space in parking lots.
Amtrack trains already stop at the mini-depot near the racing stables to drop off passengers from neighboring towns, so we wonder if they could also bring folks from downtown and Syracuse suburbs.
As The Hound advocated in Slow Roll (Sep. 15, 2019), taking a local train to the Fair would add some fun and convenience to the trip, which would be better than navigating the massive traffic jams that often leave us exiting our cars exasperated. There are many tracks that run past the Fairgrounds and trains–mostly freight trains–roll by frequently.
Maybe the Fair should partner with County officials to put the Fairgrounds in the loop, literally of the light rail plan, putting Fair commuters on track for a smoother ride. It would be a major project, but linking it to the proposed light rail system makes it seem possible.