State Fair of Virginia is illuminated by a Ferris wheel, thrill rides and lights from food vendors at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, VA., on the first day of the state fair, September 23, 2022. The state fair, which was inaugurated in 1854 and will run through Oct. 2, has been attracted between 200,000 and 250,000 attendances in recent years. The state fair offers various entertainments, including a pig racing, a circus, a rodeo, carnival games, music concerts and rides for all ages and it also has been called Virginia’s largest outdoor classroom for its educational field trip program for students. As you walk around the fair, it is hard to miss fair foods, such as funnel cakes, cotton candy, kettle corn, BBQ and even craft beer. “I like pretty much everything,” Elisabet (Lissi) Dalton, 6, of Goochland, said about the fair after getting one of kids’ rides with her younger sisters.
Pigs, hatching chicks, sheep and ducks are among the animals on Young MacDonald's Farm.
2022, Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
This year at the fair, unlimited ride wristbands cost $25 in advance or online, or $30 on-site plus a $2 activation fee.
2022, Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
People attend the State Fair of Virginia in Caroline County on Sept. 23, 2022.
Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
Fairgoers enjoyed swinging around on a ride at the State Fair of Virginia last year. New for fairgoers in 2023 are a monkey ride, a storm ride and an Italian wave swinger.
Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH
Felicity Hart, 17, of Lexington and her cow, Dandelion, wait to show in the American Milking Devons division. Hart earned many awards in the dairy cattle contests.
Daniel Sangjib Min/TIMES-DISPATCH
Visitors check out chicks during the first day of State Fair of Virginia in Doswell, Va., on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.
State Fair of Virginia is illuminated by a Ferris wheel, thrill rides and lights from food vendors at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, VA., on the first day of the state fair, September 23, 2022. The state fair, which was inaugurated in 1854 and will run through Oct. 2, has been attracted between 200,000 and 250,000 attendances in recent years. The state fair offers various entertainments, including a pig racing, a circus, a rodeo, carnival games, music concerts and rides for all ages and it also has been called Virginia’s largest outdoor classroom for its educational field trip program for students. As you walk around the fair, it is hard to miss fair foods, such as funnel cakes, cotton candy, kettle corn, BBQ and even craft beer. “I like pretty much everything,” Elisabet (Lissi) Dalton, 6, of Goochland, said about the fair after getting one of kids’ rides with her younger sisters.
