Sights of the State Fair

As I mentioned in a previous post, this was the last year that the Nebraska State Fair was in Lincoln. Since I already covered some food from the fair, I thought I would also share some pictures I took at State Fair Park. I have spent many days at the State Fair over the years when my dad showed cattle in open class, when my grandparents had a display at the fair for their business, when I was old enough to show in 4-H and FFA, and when my brother was showing in 4-H. It is amazing how many memories I have at the fair over the years.

This is the open air arena where we showed our calves for 4-H. There were many good times in this arena, such as showing three times in the Parade of Champions and finishing 10th in Showmanship, but I also have bad memories of fighting my calves to make them stand still for an entire class.

I never showed in this arena, but this is where my dad showed in 4-H years ago. He even won Champion Market Heifer two times in this arena. If three people leave a comment that says "skinny Kurt" I will post a picture of him showing back in the day.

This is the building where all of the 4-H entries are on display. Over the years I have had quilts, photographs and other items on display here.

One thing I really like at the fair is the fact that the old fair logo is stamped in the sidewalks all over the fairgrounds. I will be very sad if the three balloons are not in the sidewalks at the new fairgrounds in Grand Island.

This was a huge block of cheese. I have no memories about this but I thought it was kind of cool.

When I was little my mom had to find a way to keep me busy for several days at the fair, so we usually looked at all of exhibits like really big pumpkins. This one weighted 445 lbs.


This is the Beef Barn where I spend my early years at the fair.

Recognize this from somewhere?

I figured this mural would get painted over in the future, so I thought it would be good to have a picture of it.

This is the hill (which feels like a mountain after a long day of walking at the fair) where all the food is. When I was a freshman in high school and showed in FFA and 4-H(which take place at opposite ends of the fairgrounds), my family ran up this hill at 7:00 in the morning, in the pouring rain, in our irrigation boots to feed our cattle at the 4-H end of the fairgrounds. Luckily the fairgrounds are pretty dead at this time of the morning, so no one saw us, but it must have looked pretty funny.

Since the fairgrounds are pretty large there are tractors and trailers that carry people around the fairgrounds. We rode on these for hours when I was young for something to do and to stay cool, since it is usually very hot.


I was crazy enough to walk up the bridge on 27th Street to take a picture of how the fairgrounds look now. I know this area will change a lot in the next few years, so it will be interesting to see how the property will change compared to this picture.