BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The 182nd Saratoga County Fair runs from July 18 to July 23. The fair features hundreds of exhibitors, live music, animals, special shows, and rides.
Founded in 1841, the Saratoga County Fair is one of the oldest agricultural fairs in New York, and even the United States. This is the history of the Saratoga County Fair, according to fairgrounds website.
The fair is run by the Saratoga County Agricultural Society (SCAS), which was also founded in 1841. The SCAS is a non-profit organization with 21 member volunteer Board of Directors.
The founding fathers of the SCAS represented each town in Saratoga County. The first President of the Society was Howell Gardiner of Greenfield. Gardiner set the stage for active involvement by politicians, businessmen, educators, and agriculturalists in the SCAS for over 17 decades.
In the first five decades, the Saratoga County Fair was hosted by Ballston Spa, Mechanicville and Saratoga Springs. One of the locations was just off North Broadway in Saratoga Springs, roughly where Maple Avenue Middle School is now. The fair finally settled in Ballston Spa in the late 1880s.
The SCAS currently owns and maintains almost 80 acres for the fair in Saratoga County. Names like Merchant, Middlebrook, Curtis, and Armer have been associated with the fair for generations. There has been an Armer family member on the SCAS Board of Directors since the mid 1940s.
The six-day fair returned to its fullest extent in 2022 after being canceled and then scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fair was canceled in 2020 for the first time since the Civil War.
You can buy tickets for this year’s fair on the Saratoga County Fair website or at the door. The Saratoga County Fairgrounds are located at 162 Prospect Street in Ballston Spa.