Companion Lesson for Visiting the Kentucky State Fair
MAIN IDEAS
Kentucky farms are diverse and produce a variety of crops and animals.
Local farms are important because they provide food, jobs, and income for Kentucky’s citizens.
The Kentucky State Fair is an event that allows us to learn about Kentucky farms and food in one place.
Some crops and animals are grown in specific regions of Kentucky because of landforms, water sources, and resource availability.
BEFORE GOING TO THE KENTUCKY STATE FAIR
Ask students if they have ever been to the Kentucky State Fair. Ask them about their favorite sights or activities. Ask if they knew that state and county fairs connected visitors to local agriculture. Why is that important?
Background Information
About the Kentucky State Fair
Source: Wikipedia
The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the 520 acres (2.1 km2) of indoor and outdoor exhibits; activities include sampling a wide variety of food and riding several roller coasters during the 11-day event. The Kentucky State Fair includes competitions in crafts such as quilt-making, homebrew beers, and home-made pastries, as well as fine arts and agricultural competitions. Exhibitor spaces are available and are popular with area and regional businesses.
The Kentucky State Fair boasts 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m2) of indoor space that often feature exhibits that include health screenings, gravity-defying acrobats, magical illusionists, balloon sculptors and home improvement demonstrations.
The Kentucky State Fair World's Championship Horse Show is one of the fair's most prestigious events, where attendees and horses travel from various continents. More than 2,000 elite Saddlebreds compete in the World's Championship Horse Show for more than 1.2 million in premiums and awards.
The fair was organized in 1816, just five years after the United States' first fair in Massachusetts. Fayette County farmer Colonel Lewis Sanders (no known relation to Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) was the organizer. The event did not become an official state fair until 1902. The fair moved from city to city until 1907, when Louisville became the fair's permanent home. Churchill Downs has hosted the fair on three occasions, particularly during World War II. The fair moved to its current site at the Kentucky Exposition Center in 1956.
There were cancellations in 1862 to 1864, 1917 to 1918, and 1942 to 1944. The COVID-19 pandemic caused officials to present the 2020 fair in modified fashion.
History of Fairs and Expositions
Source: International Association of Fairs & Expositions
The history of fairs is clouded and the record is less than complete. Nonetheless, the story of mankind is replete with references to fairs, not in an institutional context but as a part of everyday social intercourse. A casual observer might conclude that fairs and exhibitions came fresh out of eighteenth-century western Europe, delivered to the colonial docks of Boston and Halifax with a predisposed mission to serve agriculture and animal husbandry.
This observation fits with our collective sense of tradition but fails to recognize centuries of historical linkage to the eastern Mediterranean before the birth of Christ. Old and New Testament references to fairs are mixed with allusions to commerce, trade, the marketplace, festivals, religious feasts, and holy days.
Where and when the first fair was held is not known. However, evidence points to the existence of fairs as early as 500 BC Scripture records in the book of Ezekiel: "Tarshish was thy merchant because of the multitude of the kinds of riches with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs." Ezekiel's account of the destruction of Tyre, supposedly written about 588 BC, describes Tyre as an essential market and fair center.
Fairs were commercial in character from the beginning. Merchants from distant countries would come together, bringing native wares to trade with one another, and even though it is not clearly explained in Ezekiel or other biblical references, it is reasonable to assume that "fair" was the name given to the place at which early trading between foreign merchants was conducted.
It is equally clear that religious activity was a companion to commerce. The Latin word "feria" meaning holy day, would appear the logical root of the word "fair." Each feria was a day when large numbers of people would assemble for worship. Worship in those early days was centered around temples in great cities, including Ninevah, Athens, Rome and Mecca. These cities were also respected as the great commercial centers of the world. Fields adjacent to these temples were staked out for traders. Religious figures were placed about the fields in order to protect the traders and merchants.
During the early Christian era, the church took an active part in sponsoring fairs on feast days, and as a result, fairs came to be a source of revenue for the church. Possibly, our modern church bazaars possess some rudiments of these religious fairs.
This evolution which blended religion and commerce continued over time and moved into western Europe. Periodic gatherings brought together the producers of all types of commodities for the purpose of barter, exchange, and, finally, outright sale. To this marketplace were added entertainment and other forms of activity thus, these primitive markets took on the aspect of fairs as we know them today.
In 1765, less than 300 years after Columbus finished his work in the New World, the first American fair was presented in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The same fair continues to operate today. In Upper Canada, as Ontario was known in early Confederation, a fair was held in 1792, sponsored by the Niagara Agricultural Society. As with Windsor, the Niagara Fair remains in operation today. In addition, many small fairs were held during the early 1700s in French Canada while under French rule.
Similarly, in the not-yet-formed United States, a fair was chartered in York (Pennsylvania) in 1765 and it existed as a 2-day agricultural market.
The concept of the "county fair" however, organized by an agricultural society, was initiated by Elkanah Watson, a New England patriot and farmer. He earned the title, "Father of US agricultural fairs" by organizing the Berkshire Agricultural Society and creating an event (known then as a Cattle Show) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in September 1811. It was not a market, and was more than just an exhibit of animals – it was a competition, with prize money ($70) paid for the best exhibits of oxen, cattle, swine, and sheep.
Watson worked diligently for many years helping communities organize their own agricultural societies and their respective shows (fairs). By 1819 most counties in New England had organized their own agricultural societies and the movement was spreading into the other states. The nineteenth century closed with almost every state and province having one or more agricultural fairs or exhibitions.
The core elements of those agricultural society events of the early 1800s - those early fairs – are at the heart of the agricultural fair in North America today. Competition for the best farm and domestic products of the county and community (or region or state), an annual celebration for the community to come together, share and learn.
Today, about 2,000 fairs are held in North America each year. Additionally, agricultural fairs can be found throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, and other countries. They provide industrial exhibits, demonstrations, and competitions to advance livestock, horticulture, and agriculture, with particular emphasis on educational activities such as 4-H, FFA, and similar youth development programs. Most fairs also provide special educational activities to help today's consumers understand the importance of farming and the food source on their plates. While enjoying these high-minded pursuits, fair visitors can also see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the richness and variety of what the world has to offer.
Farm to Table Connection
Purpose
Students will identify the origins of food products and clothing from the farm.
Students will identify which food products require processing prior to consumption.
Activity Sheets
View the PDFs by clicking on an image.
Book Connections
Resource Connection
Agriculture Where I Live
Purpose
Students will identify their home county and the agriculture that can be found there.
Students will understand factors that affect agriculture production in their county.
Materials
Background Information
Every Kentucky county has some form of agriculture production. The number and size of farms, however, are dependent upon topography (variations in elevation), natural resource availability, population, and access to markets. Cattle are most concentrated in central Kentucky due to our rolling, green pastures found there. Grain crops, poultry, and hogs are more concentrated in western Kentucky; grain crop production is most economical in large areas of flat land, and livestock that eats those grains are typically located near their food source. Larger fruit and vegetable farms tend to be closer to areas with larger populations. There is less agriculture production in eastern Kentucky due to steeper hills and mountains, larger forested areas, and a focus on other natural resources. Opportunities are growing, however, for smaller farms to cater to local customers interested in knowing who produces their food.
Resource Connections
How Does My Community Provide What I Need? - Primary
My Kentucky Home Provides What I Need - Intermediate and Secondary