I’ve lived in Boston for 25+ years and have never had a burning desire to attend The Big E until this year. It’s a multi-state fair for all of the New England states.
The Big E is located in Springfield, MA, about 1.5 hours from Boston. Allen and I decided to make a weekend out of it and also visit the MGM Springfield casino while we were there.
We arrived at the fair soon after the gates opened on a Saturday. I’m glad we were leaving by the early afternoon because it was getting REALLY crowded. It wasn’t too bad in the early morning. We walked 5+ miles that day. My favorite activities were feeding and petting a bunch of farm animals and walking through replicas of each New England’s state house, which was filled with wares and food from local vendors.
I also loved perusing all of the crafts, jewelry, and photography that had been submitted to competitions. Viewing it all made me think of my mom, aunt, and grandmother, who were all huge crafters.
There’s so much more to the event as well: beer gardens, circus shows, free and ticketed concerts every day, carnival rides, and all of the [good] bad food you could ever want. There’s also a historic village that I’d like to spend more time at the next time we go. Yes, I believe we will return someday!
Next time we visit Springfield, I would also like to visit the Dr. Seuss Museum. We did stop by to see the sculptures in the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden. I loved all of his books when I was a kid.
The casino was fun for a few hours and was uneventful (i.e., we didn’t win anything but we didn’t lose much).
Do you attend local or state fairs? What is your favorite part?
fancenance.com 
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