When we were planning this trip we knew we wanted to visit the Alaska State Fair if at all possible. We’ve watched several videos about it over the years and always thought it looked fun and unique. Plus, after twenty-one years of marriage, we’ve never been to any state fair together!
Goals of today – food vendors, animals and big veggies! We managed to add in a few other things other than those so scroll to what you have any interest in as it’s a lot, when I thought it would be a quick blog day.
It’s the 90th Anniversary of the Alaska State Fair and lots of extra celebrations going on.
Champagne the Mouse
One of the fun games at the fair is Champagne the Mouse. This is a charity fundraiser by the Palmer Elks Lodge #1842 officially known as the Rat Race. You can place bets on what color you think Champagne will choose during the wheel spin. Different colors pay different amounts, we put in $5 and won $5 back after playing for several minutes. Bets are maxed at 50 cents each. We won 10 to 1 on orange (not the video below) but we wanted you to see how it works.
Food Ranking by LJ
- Poffertjes – traditional Dutch mini pancakes served with vanilla sweet cream butter
- Glacier Water – Alaskan Soda Jerk
- Talkeetna Spinach Bread
- Emjays Elote Mexican Street Corn Bowl
- Ruby Red Sipper – Alaskan Soda Jerk
- Shredded Chicken Burrito with hot sauce and avocado creme – El Senor Moose
- Elephant Ears – Cinnamon Sugar (LJ)
- Pizza Cone
- Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp
Not rated by LJ (we shared the above items, or I at least had a bite but these were really more just mine.
- Buttered Corn Cob (Bev)
- Crepe with Nutella, Strawberry and Banana
- Crab Cakes and Bacon Wrapped Scallops from Alaska Crab Shack (Bev)
- Elephant Ears – Powdered Sugar (Bev) – my funnel cake at the race was so much yummier to me
Piggies and chickens and cows… oh my!
It’s always impressive to me to see all the different animals that are brought to a fair and this one did not disappoint. There was an amazing petting zoo inside as well as other booths that had places to snuggle goats, puppies, and pigs! There are an amazing amount of employees and volunteers that make the entire fair happen – it was really well done.
Flowers, Veggies
Here they are! The giant veggies! Now, I do have to say that I have a high school friend in Matthews that could right now take second place if only they lived in Alaska, as she and her husband have a pumpkin that weighs 538 pounds!
Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel
You won’t believe your eyes! Meet Twiggy the water skiing squirrel, one of the favorite acts at the fair.
Incredible crafts
The day was winding down but we did find one of the arts and crafts exhibit halls. The talent was truly astounding.
Pickle pics and other random photos
What a dude!
We found the Equestrian Center at the perfect time and were able to see an amazing Stallion and he was spicy! So very impressive to see and I wish we had found them earlier to hear more about the competition.
Monster Trucks
Originally we had purchased tickets to see a comedian at the fair, about a week ago we found out his schedule had changed so they had moved his performance to the previous weekend so they refunded our tickets. Instead we decided to try out a Monster Truck Event which we had never seen before. Despite the rain starting while we were there, it was really quite entertaining. There was another group of vehicles that raced also and they were crazy fun. I did have some safety questions but I just tried to enjoy.
Drone Show
The night ended with an amazing Drone show which was quite impressive! We closed down the Fair and headed back to get some rest before our big ATV trip tomorrow!
