It's gotten worse and worse every year. One year (within the last 5, I stopped counting) they actually had an elephant - I promised I'd never go back. The vendor list never really fills up, probably because of the fees the vendors have to pay to display there (they're high, for the traffic/potential revenue they can get there). You get mostly state-based window/siding companies and national insurance companies and financial investment companies, some "mostly made in China out of subpar materials for ridiculously inflated prices" garbage vendors, and very little genuine local craft talent.

This year's mainstage event is the Amish Outlaws - which I'd actually like to see. But the last time I went there to actually see a show, it was the GooGoo Dolls, and the young women sitting next to where we put out our blanket and chairs decided to sit ON our blanket, and talk loudly over the music, and bump into our chairs. We asked them to pipe down and they just shot us dirty looks - it was crowded, so there was no other place to move our stuff, and we ended up listening to a bunch of teenage girls talking over what was probably really good music. Can't blame the fairgrounds for that, but it really was the only reason we went so it was $20 wasted.

The agricultural displays are great, but for just around the same admission fee you can get great agricultural displays AND a great rest of the fair, at any of the other fairs.

The juried entry crafts are nice, but they work with a system where pretty much everyone gets a ribbon. That just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The whole "everyone is special" nonsense pushed on children does nothing but teach them a sense of entitlement, and seems just another way to scam people out of their money with entry fees.

When you go to their website, it says you can download the current exhibit premium book. But when you click on that link you end up at LAST year's information. Their website has a lot of typos as well - and they used the word "irregardless" which is a pet peeve (pro-tip: irregardless isn't a word).

Once upon a time, the fairgrounds were good neighbors, and gave out a pair of free one-day passes to people who lived in close proximity. Basically - if the police had to put a "No Parking, Police Emergency" poster out in front of your house, you were entitled to the day-passes as a way of apologizing for the inconvenience of not permitting you to park in front of your own house. They stopped doing that. I even called and e-mailed them one year asking if they had simply missed my house, and they never bothered to respond. So - they're not even good neighbors anymore.