Mann at the fair: Class is back in session and fun is around every corner

PALMER— The Alaska State Fair is back for its 2018, “Memories in the Making” season, and on the opening day dozens of young students poured into the grounds as the first attendees with early access at 10 a.m as a part of the fair’s annual school program that pulls in schools from across the Mat-Su Valley.

Everyone else was able to enter at noon and there is a lot to see, eat, learn, and do this year as everyone makes memories of their own at the biggest gathering in the Mat-Su Valley all year.

“It’s a great program. I wish we could expand it,” Dean Phipps, Marketing and Communications Director for the ASF said.

The ASF school program has been around for more than 10 years and most of the schools in the district get a chance to participate. Lines of kids filled the early, hours of the fair youthful energy as vendors and fair staff were still gearing up for the floodgates to open.

Multiple buses showed up with varying age groups. Home schools are also usually included in the program. According to Bonnie France, ASF School Program Director, each field trip to the Fair is designed to be both education and fun. It’s designed to have a series of education stops on a guided tour filled with activities and at least one “fun event.” On the first day, the kids will be learned about miners, colonists, dinosaurs, salmon, Alaska Native storytelling, and so on, all while eating fresh fair food and likely came back later with their parents to ride the rides. Some kids got to see the very first show of the year: Dan Meyer, the professional sword swallower.

"Tasy!" he said after one of the tricks, met with child laughter.

There are approximately 500 vendors this year, with three new food vendors. The new bites to eat at the fair are: the Lucky Wishbone (classic restaurant from Anchorage’s early days), Pork Rinds, and the Bear Naked grill. Phipps said that they try to get something new and different each year but they also look heavily into the vendor’s experience and skills. He named the Reuben Haus as a family operation that really took off in downtown Palmer and in recent years, won over the hearts and stomachs of the Fair staff with their signature recipes , teamwork and local ingenuity at a vendor food competition.

There’s something new this year, a modern convenience that should help everyone: digital tickets, now available on smart phones. Anyone can pull put their smart phone and get scanned in right there.

Veterans and first responders get their own day this year, with special admission prices, $5 per active military, veteran or first responder.

For upcoming events, admission prices, concerts and ticket information, visit the ASF website at: www.alaskastatefair.org