Big E finishes at full force after COVID wreaks havoc on last 2 fair years

WEST SPRINGFIELD New Englands largest fair started and finished in full force this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the past two Big Es.

The Eastern States Exposition finished Sunday having broken several records, including attracting the largest crowd in a single day – with 177,789 people attending the second Saturday.

A total of 1,603,354 people attended the fair over the 17 days with 139,362 visiting on the final Sunday. If it wasnt gloomy, cold with rain threatening on Saturday and Sunday, the Big E would likely have broken the all-time record for the most number of visits over the 17 days, which is 1,629,527 set in 2019, said Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition.

Eastern States Exposition staff wrapped up the last day of the Big E starting the morning with Catholic and Protestant church services open for employees and fairgoers and ending with a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. As is tradition, it also celebrated Special Olympics with competitions on the green of Storrowton Village where fairgoers were invited to join athletes playing cornhole and bocci. Teams also marched in the final Mardi Gras parade through the fairgrounds.

Cassidy also picked the winner of the new mystery prize on Sunday afternoon. People could register by clicking on the QR code, which some 53,000 people did. An Agawam woman was selected to win $2,500 in cash and four season passes for next years fair.

We are so far past COVID, nobody has asked about it, Cassidy said. People want to put the whole thing as far behind them as possible.

The successful fair is on a comeback after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Big E hard. After the pandemic forced the 2020 fair to close, the heads of the non-profit had to furlough employees and tried to recoup some losses with creative ideas such as holding drive-in movies and selling the signature cream puffs and other food favorites.

It returned in 2021 but it was scaled back. Masks were required in all buildings and there were fewer vendors. Still, the fair held some 150 music events, which is typical, and attracted 1,498,774 people.

While there were no mask mandates and the complete complement of vendors has returned, Cassidy said the Eastern States Exposition continued placing hand sanitizing stations throughout the grounds and with its careful cleaning, especially at the agriculture exhibits, which is a big focus of the fair.

The fairgrounds have to be clean, he said. You have to keep your prize cattle or horse safeFarmers are bringing in a $500,000 horse or cow so you have to keep your floors and barns clean.

It is vital to ensure manure and hay is properly disposed of so illnesses arent passed on to different animals, which can then be brought back to farms. It is also important to be on the cutting edge of sanitizing in barns because many people, especially children, who are not exposed to agriculture dont get sick, he said.

Cassidy said he always worries about facing some type of disaster on the crowded fairgrounds and staff constantly talk about taking public safety measures, including new state-of-the-art metal detectors at the entrances which allow a larger volume of traffic through while still monitoring for weapons.

What keeps me up at night is the question, Are people going to care about each other and behave like they were brought up to behave? he said.

Small tweaks are made at the fair throughout the 17 days. In the days after the event staff gathers to recap and decide what was successful and what larger changes need to be made.

For example, Cassidy said he wants to talk to the directors of the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources, which operates the Massachusetts State Building on the grounds, about bringing more farming displays in the building.

One thing Cassidy and Noreen Tassinari both agreed was a hit was the new Front Porch, an about 30,000 square-foot area that invited in local vendors who wanted to participate in the Big E but on a smaller scale. Usually, a vendor has to commit to 17 days of the fair, but those at the Front Porch rotated in and out, sharing space so they could be there for just a week or even a weekend.

Michael Sarafin, of Huntington, stands near a stunt car used in past fairs in the Big E museum on Sunday, the last day of the 2022 fair. (Jeanette DeForge/Republican staff)

One of the hits at the fair this year was the Big E history exhibit, which began in 2016 in the Young Building when the fair celebrated its 100th anniversary. It has now moved to its own building as a permanent exhibit.

I grew up with a farm background and it is reminiscent of what the fair used to be, said Michael Sarafin, of Huntington, who stopped by the museums main desk to ask if anyone remembered the last time the Joie Chitwood Show of daredevils operated (1998 is the answer).

The display includes photographs of the Springfield Horse Show that dates to 1925, an old Sky Ride chair that once traveled above the grounds on a cable, a Springfield Indians hockey exhibit and advertisements of musical acts such as the Dixieland Kingston Trio and Count Basie.

It also showed the fairgrounds when it was flooded in 1936 leaving buildings half underwater.

Some people who stop in have been sharing their own stories about the Big E. For example, one visitor said his grandfather was the artist of a number of pen and ink drawings on display, said Anne Holliday, of Blandford who was working at the main desk at the museum.

A lot of people are surprised to learn things about the Big E they hadnt known, said Lori Stickles, of Agawam, who was working at the museums main desk. Im finding a lot of people saying it is a fantastic exhibit. It is a hidden gem.

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