Don’t forget: the 2009 Mississippi State Fair starts tomorrow, October 7th, and runs through October 18th. The Mississippi State Fair Commission has a comprehensive but very cluttered page dedicated to fair-related info, so give that a visit to find out everything about the fair. A few nuggets I found interesting/helpful:
- Admission and parking are free on weekdays from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. I think that’s for the lunch crowd. Elsewhere on the page it says admission is free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so maybe parking isn’t free before 11 a.m. and after 1 p.m.? Safest thing to do if you want both free admission and parking is to get there between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- Regular admission is $5, kids under 6 get in free, and kids under 12 can get in free by coloring a coloring page you can download from their site and bringing it to the fair. Regular parking is $5.
- Ride coupons are 4 for $5, 22 for $25, and 55 for $60. Different rides cost a different number of coupons. I’ve been told even kiddie rides require 3 coupons, so take that into account when figuring out a budget for your fair visit. If you’re big on rides, there are a few family nights and ride-a-thons where you can get all-you-can-ride tickets for $20 or $25.
- Rides open at different times on different days, so check the schedule.
- There are lots of free activities for kids, so many that I won’t mention them all here. Just a few examples: “Circus Maximus”, talent shows, petting farm, antique car show, stockdog trials, horse and mule pulls, and more. I’m assuming those are free since there’s no mention of admission for them, although some of them do explicitly state free admission.
I haven’t been to the fair since college in the 90s, so I’m excited. Sofia is old enough to appreciate the fair now, so it ought to be lots of fun for her too. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ll be going for the food. Mmm… deep fried goodness. And the pics of course. Yes, there must be photos.