Ozark Empire Fairgrounds — Attraction in Springfield

This is for the 2024 Corndog Kickoff.

I went to my first corn dog kickoff in 2017 and it was awesome. Had such a good time, tons of food, merchandise if you wanted, and planned and set up nicely.

Not this year, this was a waste of money, they didnt even start letting people in till after 6. When they came out to start separating people into different lines it was 6:05. I know five minutes isn't that big of deal. This just speaks to the poor management of this thing. They should have had people out there by 5:30 getting things organized. There was no originality for fair foods. Most of the people serving looked like they rather not be there. The kid serving the corn nuggets had his long hair in his face the whole time, no hairnet. The 3 times I went by to get mac n cheese nobody was serving, same for the fried PB&J. My free corndog had a hair cooked into it, got another one and it wasn't even cooked all the way the batter was still wet inside. I never saw anyone at the Maui drink stand. They had samples of Philly cheesesteaks, but it was just the meat; which was dry. I asked that lady for at least a toothpick to eat it and she huffed and said "ugh no". Same thing with the chicken salad lady, nothing to eat it with but your fingers or tongue. Yes, I know most fair food is eaten with your hands but not everything somethings require at the bare minimum a toothpick. The smoked bologna had no smoke flavor it was just lukewarm plain bologna.

Just disappointed that I paid $25 for less than mediocre fair food. It took me longer to drive there than the time I spent. I went around each set up at least 3 times.The fair is exciting for most people and it's a time to get foods that you can't get really get throughout the year. Do better in the future. Put it back...

There's really nothing more fun than the fair. $5.00 parking and $20 to enter for an adult and two kids. Wrist bands cost $30 for a child and they can ride all the rides as many times as they wish. Refreshments are ridiculously expensive. 2 large Cokes and 3 pretzels cost $31.00. Snow cones were $5.00 which isn't bad for a cup of shaved ice and a squirt of flavored syrup. One of the best things is the strong police presence but also their absence. You can rest assured that no one is going to be kidnapping your kids unless they're really good at it. Unless your kids become really thirsty and you're too cheap to buy them a $10 jug of root beer. They close at 11 pm and they stop selling tickets at 10 pm. You really can't beat it. Except for that event a Rutledge farm that I always miss. Don't be surprised if your bank shuts down your debit card due to suspected fraud. It's probably a good idea to call your bank before hand and tell them that you're going to the fair if you plan on paying with your debit or credit card. My bank sends me text messages any time it suspects fraud. I have to respond Y or N if I just made a purchase that's suspicious. "Yes I meant to spend $31 on two Cokes and three pretzels. I'm at...

Went to go watch the show at the arena with our service dogs this year. They are completely trained, stick right by our sides anywhere we go and are rarely even noticed by cattle. They sit directly on top of our feet when we stop somewhere and cannot be seen from behind and we always make sure to stay out of high traffic areas with them. The fairgrounds host many other shows we have attended many times before with our dogs and never had a problem. This time a man working at the arena walked up to us and told us we needed to leave because our dogs might spook the cattle. He did not care that they were service dogs and were completely well behaved, just kept insisting we needed to leave and would not even help us find a spot we could still watch but be “out of the way”. We debated leaving the dogs at the stalls so we could still watch the show but I was feeling shaky and dizzy so we left and therefore were not allowed to watch my family show their cattle we helped get ready. There is no reason legitimate service dogs that are following their training, not bothering anyone and keeping to themselves should be kicked out of any public space without alternative...