South Carolina State Fair 2026, Fairgrounds: 17 October 2026 no comments
As I mentioned last year, 2025 broke a long string of State Fair attendance for me, so I was glad to get back this year. For various reasons Saturday the 17th worked out best and I drove down about 6pm. There was quite a crowd and I found that every time I got up to a Fairgrounds parking lot entrance, the attendants would put out the traffic cones and close it down. I ended up circling the grounds clockwise entirely, coming in on Assembly, and finally ending up in the ROTC lot on Olympia. I had a Circle K ticket, so I got in fairly quickly at the Rocket gate.
The theme in the first building this year was Revolutionary South Carolina and they had a decent set of displays for that, with the rustic arts & crafts on the old Steel Building site meshing with it pretty well.
In general the layout was the same as in prior years, though I did notice a few familiar food stalls had moved. For instance, the purple-ish stand with the ice cream cone lights used to be to the south of the skyway, and now it is to the north. I didn't notice any big changes in the Midway. I still miss the smaller swing-ride, but that's been gone a number of years now. Aside from the skyway, the only rides I partook were the Bumper Cars, which is essential. I had to check out the baby ducks as well, of course. Despite the number of hours I had allocated, I still was running out of time for the art building, so I kind of had to zip through that and the produce building. I did notice that I couldn't find the corn displays I usually like to look at. Potatoes just aren't quite the same. I'm sure it was there somewhere.
One odd thing I noticed, which I also saw in 2024 is that almost all of the water fountains were turned off and in many cases locked down so no enterprising visitor could turn them on. The only working ones were in the commercial exhibit building on the South edge. I don't understand this, as given the prices of drinks there I would much rather visit a fountain. In the event I did get some tea at the Cinnamon Roll booth, along with some Fiske fries and Aunt Martha's Italian Sausage.
I was having camera issues all evening, even before the battery started to go, having to fuss with the lens deployment, and it's pretty clear I am not going to get another year out of this camera. Sic transit gloria mundi. We'll see.
Anyway, as usual I enjoyed myself, and look forward to 2027. Hope you all had the opportunity to visit as well.
