Kansas State Fair aims to draw crowds with new events, fried foods

As any organizer of an outdoor event will attest, the weather has all the power. It’s almost the only factor the organizer can’t control.

Mother Nature took a serious swing at last year’s Kansas State Fair, said manager Denny Stoecklein, dealing unbearable heat for the first five days and an unexpected, grounds-flooding storm that shut down the Midway carnival early on the final Sunday.

But it affected attendance only a little, Stoecklein said, decreasing the final gate tally to 340,795, about half a percent down from the previous year.

“When we talk about whether it was a good fair, you’ve got to take Mother Nature out of that equation to an extent,” he said. “You have to focus on things we could control, and what we could control went great.”

If the 2014 fair, which opens for its 10-day run on Friday, can avoid a weather repeat from last year, it’s on track to recover from that mini-setback, Stoecklein said. A variety of crowd-pleasing new attractions, including a high-dive act, a fun run through the grounds, an outdoor screening of “Frozen,” several big-name concerts and a gubernatorial debate, should help pack them back in. (So should the classics, including pig races, Pronto Pups, deep-fried delicacies, free yardsticks and rides on Ye Old Mill.)

Stoecklein and his staff talked about some of the highlights fairgoers can expect this year. Among them:

Grand Grandstand shows

Grandstand ticket sales are a little down overall from last year, Stoecklein said, and that could be because country megastar Toby Keith was on last year’s bill.

The best selling concert in this year’s lineup so far is Hunter Hayes, who will perform on Saturday. Hayes, a young country star known for the hit “Wanted,” is getting traction lately with his new album, “Storyline.” The Hayes concert has sold about 3,000 tickets. The Grandstand’s capacity is 10,000.

“I think that’s going to do well even in the next week,” Stoecklein said. “He’s the first Saturday, and he’s got a strong appeal to the younger demographic.”

The next highest performing concerts, which all have sold between 1,200 and 1,500 tickets, are from rockers 3 Doors Down on Sept. 13, followed by country acts Sawyer Brown and Aaron Tippin on Sept. 7 and then contemporary Christian singer Matthew West with Cloverton on Sept. 10.

Also included in the lineup this year: classic rockers Cheap Trick on Friday, Country Gold on Sept. 9, country singer Chris Young with Courtney Cole on Sept. 12, and a free concert featuring country singers Aaron Watson and Jack Ingram on Sept. 11.

Concert tickets are available at www.kansasstatefair.com or by calling 620-669-3618.

Also, Kaleigh Glanton, a local singer who performed on “The Voice,” will put on a show at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Bretz and Young Injury Lawyers Arena. That show is free with fair admission.

Crazy fair foods

As is tradition, the fair’s food vendors have created deadly sounding deep-fried delicacies to serve this year, including deep-fried Nutella (with or without bananas), deep-fried Jell-O and deep-fried Klondike bars. Two other freaky food finds this year: Frosted Flake-coated fried chicken on a stick and bacon-wrapped pork chops on a stick.

Vendors include a new one selling cheese curd, the fair’s first Italian food vendor in a long time, and a vendor selling bags of fresh-cut fries coated in a variety of seasonings.

All of the traditional foods will be there as well, save one. The Nitro Ice Cream booth that’s traditionally in the Eisenhower building is out of business and will be replaced by a vendor who sells fresh-fried pork rinds in eight flavors.

Check Friday’s Go! section on Sept. 5 for a detailed guide to this year’s fair foods.

Bedazzled brassieres

To promote breast cancer awareness, the fair has come up with an eye-catching new contest in the Domestic Arts building. Competitors have “bedazzled” brassieres in various styles, and they’re all on display. (One, for example, is covered with Easter eggs and jelly beans. Another, with a Kansas City Chiefs theme, says “Super Bowl or bust” on it.)

On the final Sunday, a group of male firefighters will model the bedazzled brassieres at a fashion show starting at 1:30 p.m. in the Domestic Arts building.

“Understandably, my knowledge in that whole area is somewhat limited,” Stoecklein said. “But at last count, we heard we had 75 to 80 entries, which was phenomenal.”

All of the contest’s entry fees will go to Victory in the Valley, a nonprofit cancer support organization.

Lair White House

For years, a little white house next to the Domestic Arts building served as a home to the fairgrounds’ caretaker, then was turned into a meeting place for the fair’s board.

Last year that house was demolished and has been replaced with a new, two-story house with a Spanish design, called the Lair White House.

The house not only will be the site of Friday’s opening ceremonies, which typically are put on in Gottschalk Park, but it also will have on its bottom floor a new museum that each year will feature a different exhibit. This year’s exhibit is dedicated to former fair entertainer Bardo the Clown, portrayed by J.B. Holdren, who lived the final years of his life in a camper on the fairgrounds. He died in early 2013 at age 93. The fair has several photographs, costumes and personal items that belonged to him and will be on display.

The top floor of the new half-million-dollar house, paid for by money raised by the fair foundation, has meeting space, and the bottom level also has a catering kitchen, Stoecklein said.

Kansas Energy Expo

Agriland, a hands-on area where children and their parents can learn about agriculture, has always been a popular attraction inside the Pride of Kansas building. Now, the Kansas Corporation Commission wants something similar.

It has taken over the spot in the Ad Astra Pavilion next to the Oz Gallery and is filling it with displays that will teach children and their parents more about Kansas transportation, renewable energies, oil and gas, and utilities. Visitors will, for example, be able to visit an interactive display that explains where electricity comes from and how Westar decides how much to charge for it. It also will include information about wind turbine blade design, solar water pumps and electricity safety.

“They fell in love with the Agriland model and said, ‘We want to do something like that with the energy sector,’” said Sue Stoecklein, the fair’s commercial exhibits director.

The Meadowlark Mile

The fair also is introducing a fun run (or walk) through the fairgrounds. It’s non-competitive and happens on Saturday, Sept. 13. Participants will take a lap around the fairgrounds, and when they get to the Midway, they’ll stop to shoot a free throw and then go down a giant slide.

“We tried to incorporate some fun into it,” Stoecklein said.

At the end, participants will gather at Gottschalk Park for prize drawings. To sign up, visit yprenocounty.com.

‘Frozen’ under the stars

Later on Sept. 13, the fair will offer an outdoor screening of the popular Disney movie “Frozen.” It will start at 8 p.m. at Lake Talbott, and the movie will be projected onto a big screen in front of the stage.

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The big, scary ride this year will be the Ejection Seat, which the fair has had in years past. It puts riders in a seat attached on each side to a pole by bungee cords. The seat is let go, and the riders fly and spin through the air.

A gubernatorial debate between Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his Democratic opponent, Paul Davis, will happen at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Bretz & Young Injury Lawyers Arena. A U.S. Senate candidate debate will follow at 11 a.m. featuring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, Shawnee County District Attorney and Democrat Chad Taylor, and independent Greg Orman, who is a businessman.

The Gottschalk Park attraction this year is the Daredevil High Dive Show, which will showcase divers spinning and twisting into a pool from a high dive 80 feet above. Shows will be put on at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. daily.

Bandaloni, a one-man mobile band who plays guitar and a drum set strapped to his back, will roam the fairgrounds entertaining attendees.

A spray painter will create artwork on the fairgrounds live as music plays, and the artwork will be for sale.

A rock climbing wall will be set up near the Ejection Seat on the Midway.

Two special cellphone charging stations will be set up on the fairgrounds: one that uses user-provided pedal power and one that uses solar power.

The fair also will have all the attractions fairgoers have come to expect, including the butter sculpture, train rides, giant pumpkins, a stilt walker, pig races, a comic hypnotist, the Midway, the sky ride, a chainsaw woodcarver, the birthing center and more.

This story was originally published August 30, 2014 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Kansas State Fair aims to draw crowds with new events, fried foods."