By Gordon Dritschilo
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The Vermont State Fair is adding a blacksmith shop, bringing back the bike giveaway and, for one night only, turning the grandstand into a movie theater.
The 176th Vermont State Fair kicks off at 5 p.m. Tuesday and runs through Aug. 20.
Fair Association President Robert Congdon said he has a reason to be optimistic about this year’s fair. He said their Facebook interactions alone are up by 10,000 more than last year. He said this is driven in part by online excitement over the headline show — the “I Love the ’90s” tour featuring Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Tone Loc and Young MC — and partly by a more aggressive advertising strategy.
“We have really tried to capitalize on social media,” he said. “My wife and (treasurer Debbie Creed’s) son have stepped in and taken that over. … In some cases we’ve boosted posts. I know also the Paramount (Theatre, a co-sponsor of the headline show) has a significant social media following. That helps.”
The result, he said, has been a lot more calls from out-of-state than he’s used to.
If a whole bunch of new people show up, Congdon said they want to make sure the fair has plenty to offer. This has meant shoring up standbys, like the racing pigs, alongside horse pulls, animal exhibits, games, vendors, rides and goods alongside some newer favorites. A second chainsaw carver has been added and appearances are scheduled for the Ultimate Air Dock Dogs.
An outside butterfly exhibit graced the last few fairs. This year, Congdon said the fair decided to build its own.
“There are butterfly farms that work with venues like us,” he said.
Congdon said they will get butterflies at the beginning of their adult phase and then release them at the end of the fair.
“They’ll make their way into the ecosystem around here,” he said.
Congdon said the blacksmith shop is something featured at a number of other Vermont fairs that caught the imagination of several board members.
“They’re going to do a lot of demos of cutting metal, hot forging, that sort of thing,” Congdon said. “The sides of the building fold down into big windows. … There’s a lot going on with trying to make it an extremely interactive thing with the public.”
The shop is scheduled to open at 3 p.m. each day starting Wednesday.
“Entertainment was a struggle this year,” Congdon said. “We worked as hard as we could, and we put the brainstorm on.”
What they came up with was erecting a 15-foot tall, 21-foot-wide screen on the fence facing the grandstand and showing movies with the projector they used in partnership with the Paramount Theatre in 2020 to create a drive-in theater at the fairground. The plan is to show “The Secrets of Dumbledore” at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“We’ve got it set up so we can fill four sections of the grandstand, which is roughly 1,000 people,” he said. “It could be a big showing if that many come.”
The movie follows the return of an old fair-week favorite — the bike giveaway.
“We’ve got almost 40, and we’re expecting more to come in,” organizer Connie Berger said. “The community needs to be brought together as family. After the past two years, we need this as a jump-start to keep our community healthy.”
gordon.dritschilo @rutlandherald.com
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