BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — There's a lot happening at the 169th Bloomsburg Fair. With more than 1,400 vendors, it's Pennsylvania's largest fair. Today is Senior Citizen's Day, with free admission for people ages 65 and older.
"Today also the FFA and the 4-H do their judging, so we'll have busloads of kids coming in. The educational building will be full. Down at the animals they'll be showing their animals today," Bloomsburg Fair President Randy Karschner said.
The Bloomsburg Fair started on Friday. There is live entertainment, including plenty of shows on the WNEP Free Stage.
"There's roving acts. At the north end there's free acts. There's just free acts all over the place to see," Karschner said.
Some of the biggest attractions are these pumpkins in the agricultural building.
"You also have the canned goods. Everyone out there who is doing canning, jams, jellies, the whole gamut, cakes," Superintendent of Agriculture Brian Campbell said.
There are concerts, a demo derby, a tractor pull, horse races and—new this year—hot air balloon rides.
"At night when the flame flies it's really a neat scene, and we had lines of people wanting to go up on a tethered ride," Karschner said.
You may catch Safari Sam and his buddy Oscar around the fairgrounds. The crew from Kel's Kraftiness is busy making balloons.
"We're going to be working on a probably about a seven or eight foot tractor. We did a nine foot grape on Saturday," Kelly Gibson said.
The highlight for most people is the food. One of this year's new vendors is Indolishus. They make potato twisters at their stand on 9th Street.
"Sour cream, chives with cheddar cheese potato twister. And then the second one I have cajun mixed with ranch," Frian Sugiharto said.
The Bloomsburg Fair runs through Saturday.