Some things you won't see on television reruns this summer:
Kids trying to catch a greased pig. Blue-ribbon cherry pie. Fresh-picked corn on the cob, dripping with butter.
It's all wrapped in the sights and sounds of an old-time Pennsylvania county fair. Stare into the dazzling galaxy of lights on the midway. Follow the scent of friend dough to the funnel cakes. Lick the remnants of cotton candy off your fingers. Lose the gravity weighing you down with a turn on the Ferris wheel.
From now through October, Pennsylvania offers 89 fairs; some are bright and gaudy and jammed with people. Others recall times when country folk got together to celebrate the harvest, and -oh, yes- brag over their giant pumpkins. Lucky for the Pennsylvania fair-ista, there's a terrific website, pafairs.org, offering old-fashioned fairs by name, city, county and date.
Some of the nation's biggest and best fairs are in Pennsylvania, including The Great Allentown Fair (August 30-September 5), Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair (August 25-September 1), Luzerne County Fair (September 7-11), Washington (August 12-20) and York (September 9-18). Sure, there are midways, Tilt-a-Whirls and big-time country music acts, but where else can you cheer on your pick in the swine races or compete in a milk-chugging contest?
Take a trolley provided by the PA Trolley Museum to the Washington County Fair with tractor pulls, demolition derby and midway rides.
For the ultimate in family experiences, don't miss the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair. A whole city springs up in Centre Hall that week, when families occupy 950 tents on the fairgrounds. Some families go back five generations on one tent site.
In Allentown, be entertained by the Big Cat Encounter, a family of endangered and exotic big cats or score tickets to the top acts such as Sugarland, Bruno Mars and Journey.
At the Luzerne County Fair, participate in the barnyard Olympics, tractor obstacle rodeo or enter your little one in the fair princess contest.
This year's udderly awesome York County Fair may lure you with its "Swifty Swine Racing Pigs" that head down the "ham" stretch, but stick around for superstars such as Toby Keith and Joan Jett.
