The Big E in West Springfield, Mass. enjoys another record-breaking attendance year. (Photo Courtesy of Big E)
The rising attendance of the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E) in West Springfield, Mass., over the past few years continued this year with another record of 1,498,605, an increase of more than 16,600 attendees as compared to last year, at the Sept.12-28 fair.
With the theme #BigEMoments, the United States’ only six-state fair featured a variety of new entertainment, food and promotions over social media to keep the almost 100-year-old event fresh and exciting.
“The addition of social media has helped keep the fair new,” said Communications Manager Catherine Pappas, “and we’re always looking for new exhibits, trendy foods and new entertainment.”
Adding to last year’s one paid concert event, the Big E hosted three paid concerts at their 6,000-seat Xfinity Arena. Darius Rucker played on Sept.14 with $39 tickets, Lynyrd Skynyrd came on Sept. 26 with ticket prices ranging from $29 to $39 and Little Big Town played the following night with a ticket price of $39.
The Xfinity Arena also hosted four free concerts, including Cassadee Pope, Eddie Money, Mike DelGuidice and Emblem3.
Outside of the concert acts, 25 free entertainment events were offered at the Big E. The ever-popular Circus Spectacular was back with exciting new acts, and the Big E Mardi Gras Parade's eight custom floats traveled through the fairgrounds daily. A popular new act this year was the Grizzly Experience, an educational and entertaining look at grizzly bears.
The Avenue of States, a Big E staple, was back again to showcase each of the six states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont—through handmade crafts, local products and unique attractions.
Another interesting exhibit unique to this fair was the Big E’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. Housed in the Young Building, the exhibit featured a collection of over 250 artifacts and original souvenirs as well as rare and never-before-seen video footage from the 1960s fair.
A major new feature was the Big E Hot Spot that was comprised of a charging bar for cell phones and a way to plug in and connect to the fair's social media and watch the BigETV.
The Big E’s carnival was provided by North American Midway Entertainment, as it has been for the past 10 years. They provided all of the rides and games, as well as some of the food concessions. The midway included over 20 major rides with over 20 more that were part of Kiddieland.
“Each year we bring at least one new ride to the Big E," said Amy Girton, North American Midway Entertainment’s director of communications and media relations. “Our goal is to keep all of our events fresh and exciting year after year.”
The midway’s popular new thrill ride is called Remix, which spins riders 21 times a minute.
“Our relationship with the Big E is a great partnership that we truly value,” said Girton.
The Big E welcomed a number of new concessions and featured foods to their lineup, including Matunuck Oyster Bar. This popular Rhode Island restaurant’s new concession featured fresh seafood dishes of shrimp, clam chowder, clams and oysters. The Italian Pavilion was revamped and turned into Clemenza’s Brick Oven Pizza and Café that featured sit-down dining and a full menu of Italian favorites like brick oven pizza, ravioli and cannoli.
Other new food items were Smash-A-Pies, which offered a choice of pies served with soft serve ice cream, and Pulled Pork Sundaes, a dish of BBQ baked beans stacked on pulled pork and cornbread with coleslaw and a cherry on top.
Parking cost $10 a car, while ticket prices were $15 for adults and $10 for children 6-12, with free admission for children five and under. Seniors 60 years and over were $12 Monday through Thursday. Pappas is unable to provide any gross sales figures at this time.
With the Big E’s centennial fair quickly approaching in 2016, Pappas said a centennial committee has already been formed and ideas and plans for the milestone celebration are already underway.
“There’s a lot of excitement about the centennial, and new ideas are coming up each day,” said Pappas. “We’re really trying to involve our community and get people to share their own fair stories with us.”
An email address, memories@thebige.com, has been set up so people in the community can easily share their fair stories and memories to be incorporated in some way at the centennial.
Next year’s fair dates are Sept. 18-Oct. 4.
Interviewed for this article: Catharine Pappas, (413) 205-5041; Amy Girton, (765) 509-1169