The Massachusetts Building on the Avenue of States as seen early on opening day Friday. (Photo by Peter Currier)
WEST SPRINGFIELD- The Eastern States Exposition is underway, and the first weekend of the fair brought large crowds despite some heavy rain.
The Big E opened its gates on Friday, Sept. 13 at 8 a.m. with many of the vendors and buildings opening up shop at 10 a.m.. The opening day on Friday brought in 73,108 attendees while Saturday saw 100,147 according the Big E’s website. Most of the rain occurred throughout Saturday. While no attendance records were broken, it did make for lighter traffic while the fairgrounds were still crowded.
The fair opened up with the National Anthem being sung by Shea Braceland of Westfield on the Big E stage Friday morning. The concert lineup for the Big E arena brought the likes of AJR, Loverboy, and Skillet as the weekend’s headliners. Other weekend performers included Mariachi Mexico Antiguo, Bowling for Soup, and Blue Oyster Cult.
The Saturday rain didn’t stop people from enjoying the fair. The rain would cut in and out with heavy downpours, causing some people to flee to shelter, and others to embrace the weather. (Photo by Peter Currier)
The 2019 Big E also brought in a number of new foods for attendees to try out. The famous Big E creampuff makes its return, but this time it can come with a twist; chocolate ganache. Another new high-profile dish is Porky’ BBQ sundae, a dish of ribs, brisket, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw organized to resemble an ice cream sundae. Porky’s can be found on Commonwealth Avenue.
Another big draw of the Big E is the car shows. This year brought the Connecticut Valley Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America and the Mustangs of Massachusetts Car Club on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The next car show takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 18 and features the Pioneer Valley GTO Association. All car shows take place on the Avenue of States from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are weather permitting.
This year, The Big E will have Westfield Appreciation Day on Thursday, Sept. 26. A parade will feature Westfield officials as well as student groups and organizations representing the city. The parade begins at 5 p.m. near Gate 1 and ends near the state buildings. Last year’s Westfield Day was used to celebrate Westfield’s 350th birthday, which was still being planned at the time.
worker seen early on Friday getting hundreds of large turkey legs ready to be served to hungry fair-goers. (Photo by Peter Currier)
The Big E continues until Sunday, Sept. 29 and there is plenty to do in that span of time. There will be concerts every day across the three major stages and different vendors featuring their products. Notable newcomers include the “Yodeling Walmart Kid” Mason Ramsey who is best known for the viral videos of him professionally yodeling inside of an Illinois Walmart.
This year, on the same day as Westfield Day, Nintendo will be having a Nintendo Switch Tour, where new and old Nintendo Switch game demos can be played by attendees.
