State Fair attractions for thirsty visitors

Last year at the Fair.

New York produces a huge variety of craft beverages and foods, but getting an opportunity to sample many of them is next to impossible because they tend toward being just regionally distributed.

That's where the Great New York State Fair can come in handy. The annual extravaganza again this year will feature, among a gajillion other things, a strong presence from Taste NY, a state program linking consumers to products made and grown by their fellow New Yorkers.

Free samples of beverages and foods will be available in the Horticulture Building from many of the people behind those products. Products also will be available for purchase there, and because the vendor lineup changes daily, people who attend the fair more than one day will find a continually changing scene. In addition, the Taste NY Marketplace, which will be located across from the main gate, carries even more products from around the state.

The fair is scheduled to run from Thursday, August 25, through Labor Day, September 5. Details, schedules, and more are available online.

The fair has its roots in the 1832 founding in Albany of the New York State Agricultural Society by a group of farmers, legislators, and others to promote agricultural improvement and local fairs. The first fair was held in Syracuse in 1841. In the ensuing years it moved to various sites around the state -- Albany, Auburn, Buffalo, Elmira, New York City, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown. Its present site was selected in 1889 when the Syracuse Land Company donated a 100-acre tract in Geddes, just outside Syracuse, as a permanent venue.

Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced that the Wade Shows Midway at the fair will be the largest in the event's history as a result of the $50 million project to revitalize the fairgrounds. The improved 15-acre Midway will offer at least 70 rides, many of them new to the fair, and feature wider and safer aisles as well as more covered seating areas. The new rides include one of the largest traveling roller coasters in the country, a new Ferris Wheel, and many thrill rides with new LED lighting.

As part of the revitalization, the Midway relocated most of its electrical services underground to offer far fewer obstructions for people pushing strollers or using wheelchairs or walkers. The Midway was paved using special heavy-duty asphalt designed to stand up to the extreme weight of large rides such as a roller coaster, which arrives in more than a dozen tractor trailers and can weigh as much as 175 tons.

Last year, the Midway generated a record $1,544,506 in revenues for the fair, a number expected to rise this year as a result of the improvement project.

Meanwhile, since this is a drinks blog and I pay attention to such things, here are the beverage suppliers who will be appearing there, according to fair organizers:

3 Leaf Tea
Adirondack Pub & Brewery
Albany Distilling Company
Awestruck Hard Ciders
Barber's Farm Distillery / 1857 Spirits
Black Button Distilling
BlackBird Cider Works
Brown's Brewing Company
Catskill Clear
CB Craft Brewers
Coyote Moon Vineyards
Empire Brewing Company
Enchanted Mountain Spirits
Glenrose Spirits
Honeoye Falls Distillery
Iron Smoke Distillery
Kaneb Orchards
Lakeland Winery
Last Shot Distillery
Neversink Spirits
New Dutch Water Company
Pazdar Winery
Pleasant Valley Wine Company
Raymor Estate Cellars
Sababa Beverages
Skewed Brewing
Southern Tier Brewing Company
That Indian Drink
The VB Brewery
Yankee Folly Cidery

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