Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — When thinking of a state fair, images of fried food, carnival rides and good times come to mind. And the Utah State Fair more than delivers.
Rick Zierse doesn't remember going to the state fair a lot as a child, but he does remember going down the iconic giant slide.
Zierse's friend asked him to go to the fair in high school, but Zierse didn't have enough money. His friend's grandmother, however, lived across the street from the fairgrounds, so the two of them made money by having a dozen cars pay to park on her front lawn and earned enough to enjoy the fair.
"This year, I'm here to try the fried pickle," Zierse said.
His wife Carol Zierse said she has been going to the fair "pretty much most of my life." As a kid, she loved seeing all of the farm animals and the "weird little gadgets" and toys in each booth.
Now, she loves the food and walking through all of the art exhibits.
This year is her first time being an exhibitor. She submitted two pieces of folded book artwork to the paper-crafts competition and a jalapeño mixed berry jelly in a taste-test competition.
"Never felt I was good enough to put something in, but Rick talked me into it. I'm excited to see what I got. It might just be a participation ribbon," she joked.
Hundreds of booths with every product imaginable for sale, walls and tables filled with art made in every creative medium possible (including Utah's famous butter cow sculpture), musical and stunt performances, dozens of farm animals of all kinds, rides galore and, of course, the giant slide will be available for enjoyment at the Utah State Fairgrounds through Sunday.
The fair has a plethora of food options including loaded fries, French toast stick sundaes, mini donuts, Korean corn dogs, chilis dogs, cookies, gyros, slush drinks, special lemonades, fancy grilled cheese sandwiches, pretzels, snow cones, street corn, funnel cakes and dozens of fried food items.
Carol Zierse's favorite fair food is funnel cakes.
Kevin Wolfe owns the Think Sweet deep-fried treats stand, where he sells deep-fried cheesecake, apple pie, Snickers, Oreos and other delicious desserts. He's been at the Utah State Fair for the last six years but has been in the business attending major fairs across the country for 45 years.
"You can throw anything in a pot of oil, and it tastes good," he said. "My personal favorite is probably the deep-fried cheesecake. It is very good — it's fattening. You might need an insulin shot afterward, but it's worth it."
Getting to meet and talk to people is why he enjoys coming to the fair each year, Wolfe said.
While it's well-known the Utah State Fair brings people from all over to compete in its many livestock competitions, thousands of others submit needlework, quilts, handmade clothing and other fabric pieces to be judged.
Julianne Kotter runs the quilt challenge, where participants have to create a quilt using a specific fabric and theme. Kotter said she always loves to see what people create in the dozens of other fabric art categories that had more than 1,700 entries this year.
"It's fun to see all the diversity and creativity of everybody. They are so excited to show everyone what they have done," Kotter said of all the people who submit artwork.
Kotter said when she was younger, the building for fabric arts was always overflowing, with every wall decorated and not a blank space in sight. The popularity of fabric arts at the fair has had its ups and downs, but Kotter is hoping people who see the entries this year can be inspired to participate.
"I hope it keeps inspiring people. It's been down the last few years, but I hope it inspires people to pick up something artistic and bring it to the fair," Kotter said. "It's nice to see it is kind of making a comeback."
