Wild At Heart
I covered the Michigan State Fair 5 years in a row and always enjoyed the experience. I saw some nice concerts such as Twisted Sister (in the pouring rain), ZZ Top and Alice Cooper. I had fun doing archery, riding an elephant, sampling free food and looking at a wide variety of horses, roosters, cows, etc. I enjoyed the grounds with the world's biggest stove and fishing areas. The final year I even had the pleasure of meeting Aretha Franklin enjoying one of the basketball games on the grounds. It was a shame that the fair couldn't maintain itself through these tough economic times.
However, after going to the NY State Fair, one wonders how the Michigan Fair staying vibrant for so long. I went one day this week and enjoyed a wide variety of event. They had some great restaurants on the grounds (had kangaroo at one) as well as a wine tasting area. They had a whole dairy area also which had numerous ice cream, milk and cheese vendors. The Michigan Fair had around 20 booths while NY had around 40 actual large booths with all types of food from one of the better barbecue places in the area, a potato farm serving fresh baked potatoes and a special place that served nothing but NY foods.
They are located near a railroad track with vintage trains you can ride along with an aquarium and other exhibits. That included a vintage music set, a 9/11 exhibit
circus model exhibit,
an agricultural and a carriage museum.
They had an African and a Native American village (which included crafts from around 10 different tribes. They had a science building as well as a huge area for IS government and the typical sellers of various products (like those US made cookware which are good for free food samples.
They had a nice size area with carnival games and booths like the Worlds Smallest Horse and the Spider Girl.
For the animal lovers, they had a dog show, mini-zoo (with zebra, giraffe and other exotics), bear exhibit, sea lion and seals,
Wild World of Animals (with owls, snakes and a jaguar),
and a guy with celebrity monkeys (from films like Evan Almighty).
They also have a lot of music. The day I went they had a paid show including Maroon 5 and Train. For free music, they had a Beatles cover band, a one man band strolling around,
and free music by national acts the Pointer Sisters
and the Gatlan Brothers.
With everything going on, one wonders if the Michigan State Fair could've adapted to survive. I think they might have had to move to Lansing to be more in the centric to get people from more areas at the fair. As much as a shame as it is to see it gone, after seeing this fair (and hearing stories about some of the bigger Fairs), one wonders if the MIchigan State Fair could've adapted into a money maker. I hope it eventually can return in some form but we'll see.
In other regards, here are some upcoming shows that I recommend this week.
Wednesday (9/07) - The Script @ Fillmore, Tom Morello @ Machine Shop
Thursday (9/08) - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals @ St Andrews Hall
Friday (9/09) - Squid The Whale @ Crofoot, Blondie @ Caesars Windsor, Handgrenades @ Majestic Cafe, Uproar Festival (feat Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Seether, etc) @ Pine Knob
Saturday (9/10) - Ruiners @ Old Miami, Bluegrass Festival (feat Claire Lynch Band) @ Civic Center Park (Auburn Hills), Elton John @ WFCU (Windsor)
Sunday (9/11) - Matt & Kim open for Blink 182 & My Chemical Romance @ Pine Knob
Have a good week.
