Fair & Festival Glossary
Plain-English definitions of real fair and festival terminology, from lumberjack competitions to the midway.
- MidwayThe strip of carnival rides, games, and food stands at a fair.
- GrandstandThe tiered seating bank facing a fairground's track or arena.
- 4-HThe national youth development program whose members exhibit at county fairs.
- Premium bookA fair's annual rulebook of competition classes and prize money.
- Exhibition hallThe indoor building holding a fair's judged non-livestock exhibits.
- Truck and tractor pullA grandstand contest to drag a weighted sled the farthest.
- Demolition derbyA grandstand event where drivers wreck cars until one still runs.
- ShowmanshipA class that judges the exhibitor's handling, not the animal itself.
- Youth fair (junior fair)A fair whose competitive program is limited to young exhibitors.
- Little World's FairA traditional New York name for a small community agricultural fair.
- Winter carnivalA multi-day cold-weather community festival, common in the Adirondacks.
- Gate admissionThe price of entry, separate from ride and grandstand tickets.
- Harness racingStandardbred racing in which the horse pulls a two-wheeled sulky.
- Fried doughFlat fried yeast dough, the default fair sweet across upstate New York.
- Beef on weckA Buffalo roast beef sandwich on a salt-and-caraway kummelweck roll.
- Buffalo wingUnbreaded fried chicken wing sections tossed in cayenne hot sauce and butter.