Cuomo says this year’s State Fair is a go, with limits

GEDDES, N.Y. — After its cancellation in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York State Fair will return this summer between Aug. 20 and Sept. 6.

The office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo is referring to it as the 2021 “Reimagined” New York State Fair, per a Monday news release.

This summer’s event — which will again include food, music, midway rides, and agriculture education — will happen in four different, concurrent festivals that will take place in the outdoor areas of the Fairgrounds.

“We’re going to understand the reality that we’re dealing with, but the Fair will go on for the full 18 days,” Cuomo said in remarks Monday at the State Fairgrounds. “We’re going to make some modifications in planning, but we want the vendors; we want the public to know and we want them to know now that we are going to have our State Fair.

Admission is $3 per person, with children under 12 admitted free of charge.

Organizers will set up the Fair in four areas “so we have a better sense of what the capacity and what the crowd size is. We want to keep the crowd size at about 50 percent,” Cuomo said. The capacity limits could change as the state of the pandemic evolves as the event nears, according to the governor.

Tickets will be sold for each of the outdoor areas, so families can decide which areas they want to visit and plan their day accordingly. To ensure capacity limits and social distancing, attendance at concerts and other live performances will be limited.

Among the musical acts who will be performing are REO Speedwagon, Dropkick Murphys, Sheena Easton, Great White and Vixen, and the Oak Ridge Boys, Cuomo’s office said.

In reaction, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said he is “pleased with the announcement” during his Monday coronavirus briefing at the Oncenter.

“Logistically to have a fair, you need to start getting contracts signed and start moving on that and so I’m happy to see that. I think it’s something that we could pull off,” said McMahon.