Step right up as the gates swing open at fairgrounds across the USA. This delightful collection explores the unique joys of the public gatherings that take place in cities and small towns, when people of all stripes and sizes meet to gawk at cows, ponder seed art, get hypnotized, compete in husband-calling contests, and eat virtually anything on a stick.

Farming, food, politics, parades, shilling, glad-handing, people-watching, and silliness are celebrated here. If you’ve been to a fair or festival, you’ll love this collection. If you haven’t, here’s what you’ve been missing.

Contents:

• Introduction by Noah Adams
• Garrison Keillor at the Minnesota State Fair
• Postcard: Texas State Fair
• A Break from Politics at the County Fair
• Hard Work, Some Play at the Iowa State Fair
• Swine Bring “Olympig” Racing to County Fairs
• Postcard: Collectibles at the Fair
• “Lovey” Replaces “Sooey” in Husband-Calling Contest
• The Minnesota State Fair on a Stick
• Voices from the National Cornbread Festival
• Iowa’s Butter Cow Lady
• Competitive Wood Chopping in West Virginia
• Mountain View Folk Festival
• Melvin the Human Blockhead
• The Phelps of Food Canning
• The Funnel Cake King
• On the Midway: A Fairbanks Carnival
• Lost and Found Sound: Carnival Talkers