August 14, 2024 • 12 mins
CoolKay and Countyfairgrounds.net interview the 2024 Colorado State Fair with Devon Vaugh, Direcotr of Promgramming and Partnerships. The fair is in Pueblo, Colorado and has a LOT going on ... and all kinds of food, strolling entertainers, rodeo, monster trucks, demolition derbys.... and a lot of stuff for kids and families.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Colorado State Ferris is devn Hi devn And this is
cool K from County Fairgrounds dot net. And I hear
that the Colorado State Fair is coming up starting August
twenty third.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It sure is. We're getting very close.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, so it runs August twenty third through September second.
How many people attend this event last year?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We had a little over a half a million, so
we're hoping to get close to that this year.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Okay, all right, and you know, tell the listeners where
you're located and what's the parking like.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yep, we are in Pueblo, Colorado. We are. We're in
a fairly residential area, so parking is kind of limited.
We do have we don't have on grounds parking, but
we have a few parking lots close by us, and
then a lot of parking is just in residential areas
around the grounds.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Okay, do you have any capabilities in handle handling handicapped people.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yes, we do have eightya parking right outside a few
of our entrance gates. Again, we don't really have a
parking on grounds, but out of our outside of our
main entrance gates, we do have some accessible parking available.
There's also a shuttle. So Publo Transit runs a shuttle
for us that leaves from our main street garage here
(01:18):
in the city and drops folks off at at the
main entrance gate. So if you don't want to try
and find parking, you can also take the shuttle and
come right in.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Okay, all right, So if I'm the saying you're coming
in there, what do I do first?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It depends you can. There's We have, of course, all
of your favorite fair foods, from corn dogs to funnel
cakes and you know everything in between, deep fried green
Chili's sloppers, which are Pueblo favorites. We have plenty of
free attractions to visit to see. We have our exhibit
buildings and the creative arts buildings, so that features are
(01:56):
all of our entries, so quilt, baking, floor culture, all
those kinds of things that folks make and enter you
can view those. We have plenty of stages with free
entertainment all day long. We have concerts, we have rodeos,
we have monster trucks. We have something for everyone.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, well, you know, as a senior, and I am
one as a senior, getting around and something like this
is concerns me. So do you like people get a
map when they walk in the door.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yes, absolutely, we have maps and it's a little booklet.
It has a schedule of all the events for each day.
It has a map of the fairgrounds, so yes, you
will get that when you enter. And then we also
have throughout our grounds we have their trains and they're
kind of like shuttles that take you around. They stop
kind of at each end of the fairgrounds and then
at one spot in the middle. So if you do
(02:49):
have a hard time getting around, you can hop on
one of those trains and take the shuttle.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
All right, now, I'm gonna ask you about restrooms. What
are the restrooms like?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
We do have restrooms all throughout there there. We try
to identify them with large flags you can see where
they all are. And then most buildings have restrooms as well.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay, all right, now, if I come in the gate,
Heaven help me with a whole bunch of kids under
the age of twelve. What do I do? First?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
One great thing we have is it's called our Colorado
prowd Farm Trail. It's a very interactive exhibit and kids
can walk through there. They walk in, they get a
basket and they get to visit different stations that represent
different agricultural commodities in Colorado. So they'll walk through a
peach orchard and pick a peach and put it in
their basket. They'll go to the next station and milk
(03:40):
a cow, and then they'll go to another station and
dig a sand Loves Valley potato out of the potato pit,
and just a variety of stations. So once they complete
all of those, they stop at the end and turn
in their harvest for a prize. That's something that is
a fairly new activity here at the fairgrounds and something
(04:01):
that's been very well received. We're very proud of it
and just trying to help kids learn about ag more
and really focus on that ag education. So that is
a great kids activity.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Okay, do we have any grounds acts walking around?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
We do? We have. So our theme this year is
the Colorful Colorado State Fair, kind of inspired by the
road signs the ec when you drive into Colorado. So
with that we have some very colorful attractions we have.
Her name is Zoe the Butterfly. She's on stilts and
she has these very fancy large costumes that are look
(04:38):
like butterfly wings. So she'll be strolling around the fairgrounds.
We also have BC characters. They're like big, fluffy, kind
of costumed guys that will be strolling around. We'll have
a drone show with two hundred drones every night of
the fair at nine point fifteen. We also have a
(04:58):
high dive show, so that ninety feet in the area
you'll see divers dive into a giant pool. We have
a lumberjack show, so they do log rolling and axe
throwing and chopping and all of that kind of entertainment.
We also have an extreme pogo show, so these these
guys are on pogo sticks, so you're gonna see them
(05:19):
do flips, jump over stuff, just all kinds of on
pogo sticks. So, yes, we have a wide variety of
entertainment around the grounds.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Okay, and okay, let's talk concessions. Do you have like
a certain place in the fairgrounds where the concessions there.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
No, we have concessions kind of spread out all throughout
the fairgrounds. We have vendors kind of lined on both
of bar main streets, and then there are a few
buildings that you can go in and get concessions as well.
And then same thing with food. We have alcohol throughout
the grounds, you're not confined to one area. With that,
(05:57):
you can kind of get your beer and walk around everywhere.
And then some of our is that some of our
foods that we like to highlight. We have the Slopper,
which of course has publo greed chilling, and then we
have all of your traditional fair foods funnel cakes, corn dogs,
lemonade and that all that great stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Okay, the carnival. Can you get the tickets at the gate?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yep, you can get the tickets at the gate. There
are certain days that are better for car or better
a bigger value for carnival. If you come on Wednesday
of the fair, which is August twenty eight, your dated
mission is fifteen dollars and you get an unlimited carnival
wristband for that day. So that is definitely the best
value if you want to ride carnival rides. And then
(06:48):
there are kiosks available also to get carnival wristbands at
both the Family Carnival which is like smaller rides for
younger kids, and then our main carnival area.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Okay, all right, so now let's talk rodeo. What will
we got?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yep, we have four nights of PRCA Rodeo August twenty
third through the twenty sixth, so Friday to twenty third,
we start at seven o'clock in our Big Arena for PRCA,
and then we have a concert following Shane Smith and
the Saints. And then on Saturday, the twenty fourth, rodeo
starts at seven o'clock and we have Scotty McCreary following
(07:26):
the rodeo. On the twenty fifth, we have Lone Star
following the rodeo. That one starts a little earlier. It's
at five o'clock on Sunday. And then on Monday, the
twenty sixth is our last night of PRCA Rodeo and
that starts at seven o'clock. And then we also have
a Ranch rodeo on Wednesday, so that one is also
(07:46):
great because it's free with your admission. We talked about
that that day. You get a carnival band when you
come in. You also get that you can watch that
Ranch rodeo for free as well.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Oh cool, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yeah, it's a really good value day. And then
also on Sunday, uh September one is our Yesterday and
we do the traditional Mexican chariata rodeo very well attended.
That one always sells out, so make sure you get
your tickets early if you want to come to that.
But we do the chariata and then a concert following
that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Okay, you have something I haven't seen a lot of
the fares, have You have a beer and wine competition.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We do that one, and it happened already. We already
did those entries earlier in the year and those were judged.
But yes, those those winning competitions will be kind of
on display during the fair, and the results are on
our website of the the winners of those competitions.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Okay, I imagine you have a lot of vendors all around, right.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
We do vendors outdoor vendors all around. And then our
Palace of Agriculture, it's our main it's our commercial exhibit building,
so it's centrally located in the middle of the fairgrounds.
There's two levels of shopping close to two hundred vendors
in that building as well. So yes, all all kinds
of things and everything you could possibly want, you can
(09:11):
probably find it the fair.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
What about four h buildings for each stuffish?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yep, we have a few different forage buildings with displays
from all of our state four H extension offices, so
there's static exhibits, and then we also do four H
livestock and horse shows as well.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Okay, all right, so we pretty much have covered evening entertainment.
Is there anything else you want to say about it?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I don't think so we have, like I said, in
our Big R Arena, we already talked about the four
PRC rodeos and the concerts we have the second weekend
of fair. In that arena, we also do monster trucks.
We have two monster truck shows, and then we also
have a demolition derby. And then in our Southwest Owners
Event Center, which is arena, we have a few different
(10:02):
concerts in there. On Thursday, the twenty ninth of August,
we have the Commodores and the Spinners. On Friday, August thirtieth,
we have Trace Adkins with Cody Cause. Cody Cause is
local to Pueblo, so a lot of folks are excited
to see him. Opening for Trace Adkins. Saturday the thirty first,
(10:23):
we have Ludacris and then on Sunday, September first, we
have the Google Dolls and that show is presented by
the Colorado Lottery. So if folks want to attend that one,
they can go purchase thirty dollars worth of lottery tickets
on one ticket, and then they'll get a voucher for
the Google Dolls concert. So kind of a good value.
(10:43):
You could win some money and get to watch a
great show and come to the fairgrounds all for thirty dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All right, did I ask you if you hand people
a map when they come in?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
You did, And yes, we do have maps available at
all of our entrance gates.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, because it sounds like an awful lot and to
look at and to do, and you don't want to
miss anything. That's why I asked that.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Oh, absolutely, yep, we have maps available and then definitely
on our website too if anybody needs to go there
and find the schedule events and the map of the fairgrounds.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Are there other events that occur at the stair Grounds
during the year.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yes, we do a variety of events. We host a
lot of events throughout the year. For example, we just
got hosted a Numar RV rally. We had almost four
hundred RVs that used our grounds for about a week
because we have full camping, cookups so they were here
for a while. We host the Pueblo County Fair every July,
(11:40):
and in June we host the annual Rocky Mountain Street
Rod National that fills our grounds up with campers and
then also street rods and spectators. So that's a that's
a very large event for us. And then we host
four h events all year, various club meetings things like that.
We host private events, so weddings, parties, things like that,
(12:03):
and a few of our buildings. We also host some
sporting events, wrestling tournaments, basketball with District sixty our school
district here in Publo, and just a variety of events
in all of our all of our buildings throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Okay, so what's your favorite fair food? Now, I'm gonna
put you on point.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
My favorite fair food is probably a funnel cake.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Oh that's a traditional fair food.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
It is, and my kids love them, so we love
to get one and share that every year. So fried
pickles are probably a clear bucket.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Okay, So is there anything else you want to say?
I think we pretty well covered it. We'll get this
up and hopefully we'll help you sound great.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
No, I think that's I think that's about everything. We're
just getting ready and it's going to be here before
we know it.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Okay, thank you, Devin. I've enjoyed talking to you a lot.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Have a good day. Bye bye bye
Colorado State Ferris is devn Hi devn And this is
cool K from County Fairgrounds dot net. And I hear
that the Colorado State Fair is coming up starting August
twenty third.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It sure is. We're getting very close.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, so it runs August twenty third through September second.
How many people attend this event last year?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We had a little over a half a million, so
we're hoping to get close to that this year.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Okay, all right, and you know, tell the listeners where
you're located and what's the parking like.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yep, we are in Pueblo, Colorado. We are. We're in
a fairly residential area, so parking is kind of limited.
We do have we don't have on grounds parking, but
we have a few parking lots close by us, and
then a lot of parking is just in residential areas
around the grounds.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Okay, do you have any capabilities in handle handling handicapped people.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yes, we do have eightya parking right outside a few
of our entrance gates. Again, we don't really have a
parking on grounds, but out of our outside of our
main entrance gates, we do have some accessible parking available.
There's also a shuttle. So Publo Transit runs a shuttle
for us that leaves from our main street garage here
(01:18):
in the city and drops folks off at at the
main entrance gate. So if you don't want to try
and find parking, you can also take the shuttle and
come right in.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Okay, all right, So if I'm the saying you're coming
in there, what do I do first?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It depends you can. There's We have, of course, all
of your favorite fair foods, from corn dogs to funnel
cakes and you know everything in between, deep fried green
Chili's sloppers, which are Pueblo favorites. We have plenty of
free attractions to visit to see. We have our exhibit
buildings and the creative arts buildings, so that features are
(01:56):
all of our entries, so quilt, baking, floor culture, all
those kinds of things that folks make and enter you
can view those. We have plenty of stages with free
entertainment all day long. We have concerts, we have rodeos,
we have monster trucks. We have something for everyone.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, well, you know, as a senior, and I am
one as a senior, getting around and something like this
is concerns me. So do you like people get a
map when they walk in the door.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yes, absolutely, we have maps and it's a little booklet.
It has a schedule of all the events for each day.
It has a map of the fairgrounds, so yes, you
will get that when you enter. And then we also
have throughout our grounds we have their trains and they're
kind of like shuttles that take you around. They stop
kind of at each end of the fairgrounds and then
at one spot in the middle. So if you do
(02:49):
have a hard time getting around, you can hop on
one of those trains and take the shuttle.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
All right, now, I'm gonna ask you about restrooms. What
are the restrooms like?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
We do have restrooms all throughout there there. We try
to identify them with large flags you can see where
they all are. And then most buildings have restrooms as well.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Okay, all right, now, if I come in the gate,
Heaven help me with a whole bunch of kids under
the age of twelve. What do I do? First?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
One great thing we have is it's called our Colorado
prowd Farm Trail. It's a very interactive exhibit and kids
can walk through there. They walk in, they get a
basket and they get to visit different stations that represent
different agricultural commodities in Colorado. So they'll walk through a
peach orchard and pick a peach and put it in
their basket. They'll go to the next station and milk
(03:40):
a cow, and then they'll go to another station and
dig a sand Loves Valley potato out of the potato pit,
and just a variety of stations. So once they complete
all of those, they stop at the end and turn
in their harvest for a prize. That's something that is
a fairly new activity here at the fairgrounds and something
(04:01):
that's been very well received. We're very proud of it
and just trying to help kids learn about ag more
and really focus on that ag education. So that is
a great kids activity.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Okay, do we have any grounds acts walking around?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
We do? We have. So our theme this year is
the Colorful Colorado State Fair, kind of inspired by the
road signs the ec when you drive into Colorado. So
with that we have some very colorful attractions we have.
Her name is Zoe the Butterfly. She's on stilts and
she has these very fancy large costumes that are look
(04:38):
like butterfly wings. So she'll be strolling around the fairgrounds.
We also have BC characters. They're like big, fluffy, kind
of costumed guys that will be strolling around. We'll have
a drone show with two hundred drones every night of
the fair at nine point fifteen. We also have a
(04:58):
high dive show, so that ninety feet in the area
you'll see divers dive into a giant pool. We have
a lumberjack show, so they do log rolling and axe
throwing and chopping and all of that kind of entertainment.
We also have an extreme pogo show, so these these
guys are on pogo sticks, so you're gonna see them
(05:19):
do flips, jump over stuff, just all kinds of on
pogo sticks. So, yes, we have a wide variety of
entertainment around the grounds.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Okay, and okay, let's talk concessions. Do you have like
a certain place in the fairgrounds where the concessions there.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
No, we have concessions kind of spread out all throughout
the fairgrounds. We have vendors kind of lined on both
of bar main streets, and then there are a few
buildings that you can go in and get concessions as well.
And then same thing with food. We have alcohol throughout
the grounds, you're not confined to one area. With that,
(05:57):
you can kind of get your beer and walk around everywhere.
And then some of our is that some of our
foods that we like to highlight. We have the Slopper,
which of course has publo greed chilling, and then we
have all of your traditional fair foods funnel cakes, corn dogs,
lemonade and that all that great stuff.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Okay, the carnival. Can you get the tickets at the gate?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yep, you can get the tickets at the gate. There
are certain days that are better for car or better
a bigger value for carnival. If you come on Wednesday
of the fair, which is August twenty eight, your dated
mission is fifteen dollars and you get an unlimited carnival
wristband for that day. So that is definitely the best
value if you want to ride carnival rides. And then
(06:48):
there are kiosks available also to get carnival wristbands at
both the Family Carnival which is like smaller rides for
younger kids, and then our main carnival area.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Okay, all right, so now let's talk rodeo. What will
we got?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yep, we have four nights of PRCA Rodeo August twenty
third through the twenty sixth, so Friday to twenty third,
we start at seven o'clock in our Big Arena for PRCA,
and then we have a concert following Shane Smith and
the Saints. And then on Saturday, the twenty fourth, rodeo
starts at seven o'clock and we have Scotty McCreary following
(07:26):
the rodeo. On the twenty fifth, we have Lone Star
following the rodeo. That one starts a little earlier. It's
at five o'clock on Sunday. And then on Monday, the
twenty sixth is our last night of PRCA Rodeo and
that starts at seven o'clock. And then we also have
a Ranch rodeo on Wednesday, so that one is also
(07:46):
great because it's free with your admission. We talked about
that that day. You get a carnival band when you
come in. You also get that you can watch that
Ranch rodeo for free as well.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Oh cool, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, yeah, it's a really good value day. And then
also on Sunday, uh September one is our Yesterday and
we do the traditional Mexican chariata rodeo very well attended.
That one always sells out, so make sure you get
your tickets early if you want to come to that.
But we do the chariata and then a concert following
that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Okay, you have something I haven't seen a lot of
the fares, have You have a beer and wine competition.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We do that one, and it happened already. We already
did those entries earlier in the year and those were judged.
But yes, those those winning competitions will be kind of
on display during the fair, and the results are on
our website of the the winners of those competitions.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Okay, I imagine you have a lot of vendors all around, right.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
We do vendors outdoor vendors all around. And then our
Palace of Agriculture, it's our main it's our commercial exhibit building,
so it's centrally located in the middle of the fairgrounds.
There's two levels of shopping close to two hundred vendors
in that building as well. So yes, all all kinds
of things and everything you could possibly want, you can
(09:11):
probably find it the fair.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
What about four h buildings for each stuffish?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yep, we have a few different forage buildings with displays
from all of our state four H extension offices, so
there's static exhibits, and then we also do four H
livestock and horse shows as well.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Okay, all right, so we pretty much have covered evening entertainment.
Is there anything else you want to say about it?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I don't think so we have, like I said, in
our Big R Arena, we already talked about the four
PRC rodeos and the concerts we have the second weekend
of fair. In that arena, we also do monster trucks.
We have two monster truck shows, and then we also
have a demolition derby. And then in our Southwest Owners
Event Center, which is arena, we have a few different
(10:02):
concerts in there. On Thursday, the twenty ninth of August,
we have the Commodores and the Spinners. On Friday, August thirtieth,
we have Trace Adkins with Cody Cause. Cody Cause is
local to Pueblo, so a lot of folks are excited
to see him. Opening for Trace Adkins. Saturday the thirty first,
(10:23):
we have Ludacris and then on Sunday, September first, we
have the Google Dolls and that show is presented by
the Colorado Lottery. So if folks want to attend that one,
they can go purchase thirty dollars worth of lottery tickets
on one ticket, and then they'll get a voucher for
the Google Dolls concert. So kind of a good value.
(10:43):
You could win some money and get to watch a
great show and come to the fairgrounds all for thirty dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All right, did I ask you if you hand people
a map when they come in?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
You did, And yes, we do have maps available at
all of our entrance gates.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah, because it sounds like an awful lot and to
look at and to do, and you don't want to
miss anything. That's why I asked that.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Oh, absolutely, yep, we have maps available and then definitely
on our website too if anybody needs to go there
and find the schedule events and the map of the fairgrounds.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Are there other events that occur at the stair Grounds
during the year.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yes, we do a variety of events. We host a
lot of events throughout the year. For example, we just
got hosted a Numar RV rally. We had almost four
hundred RVs that used our grounds for about a week
because we have full camping, cookups so they were here
for a while. We host the Pueblo County Fair every July,
(11:40):
and in June we host the annual Rocky Mountain Street
Rod National that fills our grounds up with campers and
then also street rods and spectators. So that's a that's
a very large event for us. And then we host
four h events all year, various club meetings things like that.
We host private events, so weddings, parties, things like that,
(12:03):
and a few of our buildings. We also host some
sporting events, wrestling tournaments, basketball with District sixty our school
district here in Publo, and just a variety of events
in all of our all of our buildings throughout the year.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Okay, so what's your favorite fair food? Now, I'm gonna
put you on point.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
My favorite fair food is probably a funnel cake.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Oh that's a traditional fair food.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
It is, and my kids love them, so we love
to get one and share that every year. So fried
pickles are probably a clear bucket.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Okay, So is there anything else you want to say?
I think we pretty well covered it. We'll get this
up and hopefully we'll help you sound great.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
No, I think that's I think that's about everything. We're
just getting ready and it's going to be here before
we know it.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Okay, thank you, Devin. I've enjoyed talking to you a lot.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Have a good day. Bye bye bye
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