Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds — Attraction in Chippewa Falls

A VERY MISMANAGED... UNFAIR FAIR...

Myself and a friend along with her 80 year old father had attended the 120th edition of the Northern Wisconsin State Fair on Sunday afternoon July 16th 2017 we arrived late in the day about 4:00 pm. We thought we could still take in an exhibit or two and at least get a bite to eat... We were shocked that they charged us $10 each for admittance (after 5:00 pm there would be no charge they said at the gate and had I brought my DD214 military discharge paper I could have at least gotten in for free). Once inside... We could not believe how "Dead" it all was with the exception of all the trucks & trailers hauling all the cattle home (the dust was flying as they just kept coming so quickly from around the corner making it difficult for us to cross the traffic just to even make our way futher into the fair) Well that was kind of to be expected due to the lateness of the day, But you'd think they'd be a little more courtious towards the pedestrians and slow down a little... since they were still supposedly open? We tried to get something good to eat only to be find most everything we wanted was sold out or the stand was already closed up. Most all of the exhibit buildings were already closing down or locked up. We left about 6pm feeling really "Taken" for the money we just put out. I feel they should have either let us in for free or reduced the price considerably. If we had known this fair officially ended at 7:00pm we never would have even bothered to attend for the price we paid. I had spoke personally with Debbie Baier in the managers office @ around 5:30pm that evening and later emailed the management (3 times over 2 weeks) about our concerns and after a considerable delay in their response all they (Debbie Baier & Rusty Volk) could do was give "Lip Service" as to how great of a value the fair is for the quality of entertainment they offer. "HOGWASH" we paid full price and got NOTHING... Rusty Volk is a lousy administrator and should have offered us another chance to see just how great the fair is (as he says..) by either giving us 3 free future admissions or a complete refund... YOU charged us $30 and delivered NOTHING... They call it "THE NORTHERN WISCONSIN STATE FAIR"... and they don't even advertise the event in a correct manner. Year after year... You really never hear much of anything about the upcoming fair outside of Eau Claire & Chippewa Counties... Yet it's supposed to serve most if not all of the counties of Northwest Wisconsin... Otherwise just call it the Chippewa County Fair... The Board Of Directors needs to get some good management to run this event correctly. As for us... We will not bother ever coming back again... Thanks...

We went for the fair food. Man, was it good! First off, there are only a few places to get adult drinks at the NWSF as they call it. That would be The Lienie Lodge and a couple of small vendors. One of which was in building D2 today. There are a ton of rides, which would have been great when we were in our teens up to thirties. Kids were there enjoying them a lot, which is great to see. The helicopter ride pullout must have been instructed to be a bit more daring, as the chopper was doing 360s, going up and down fast, zooming her and there. That's one ride I didn't feel like taking a chance on. So, on to the part about the food. You can get steak dinners for $15 and up, Domino pizza for $15 a while pizza. We got curds right away. Of course, you get about a half serving for $9 now. But they were tasty. We shared a gyro for $15, which was $10 the last time we went to the NWSF. It was packed very full and was very tasty. It was worth the price. Then, seeing as we were already pretty full, we got the for long corndog. It was very satisfying and possibly worth the $10 we paid. We went on a Friday before 3 pm, and there was available parking in the free lot beside the park. Additional parking in the fair and outside runs around $5 in 2025. There was not a much livestock as we're used to seeing at the NWSF. Poultry used to take up half a barn, but this year was down to less than 1/4 of a barn. There was pretty much 1 of each breed for the most part. Overall, it was a great time. The micro brew place was good, and the staff was courteous. There were a ton of vendors like John Deere, Willy's RV, and so many more! We had a very good time and hope the fair keeps going for...

Fair was packed this year compared to the last time I went back in 2018 or 2019. Two things that need improvement. Parking was kind of a disaster I felt. Cars parked up and down roads all over the place. Traffic jammed up from fair grounds all the way past Leini lodge and down past the bridges. There was no info on alternate routes to the fair to find parking on the website. The ice arena parking lot was too small to handle the large amount of cars needing parking. I've never seen so many cars at this fair.

Bathrooms had no sanitizer and wash stations were out of water. You could not wash your hands after going to the bathroom! There is still a Covid variant around and there was no way to find sanitizer or a way to wash my hands to prevent these spreads. I finally found sanitizer at one of the booths. There seemed to be a lack of porta pottys as well. Lines at the 4 by the pet area. Had to walk across the fairgrounds to find more. They were pretty gross at 6:30pm Saturday but no surprise. I was just disappointed there was no sanitizer inside the porta pottys, as well as outside.

Looked like everyone had fun that I saw. Great to be back out with the crowds and smells and sounds...