By Erin Pierce
The 150th Utah State Fair will make your wildest dreams come true with a wide array of attractions that include pig races, pie-eating contests and a rodeo, among other things.
To appeal to younger audiences, directors choose Napoleon Dynamite sketches to play up the Utah State Fair?s cinematic activities.
?Napoleon represents our typical, fair-goer mentality,? said Judy Duncombe, assistant general manager for the fair. ?He?s fun-loving, from a small town?many of our participants can relate to that.?
Whether or not the advertising has been successful, a number of BYU students went to the fair for the first time last week.
The fair draws thousands of people from across the state each year with its variety of attractions. This year?s Grandstand Entertainment includes such diverse musical acts as Styx, REO Speedwagon, Hoobastank and Dierks Bentley.
?I didn?t realize things like this existed outside of movies,? said Austin Westover, a sophomore from Simsbury, Conn.
Westover took a date to the fair, and both he and his date were amazed to find interactive activities, including a competition for the state?s largest pumpkins.
?Having grown up in a city, this was a very interesting experience,? Westover said. ?It was like ?welcome to rural America.??
The fair introduces urban Americans such as Westover to a wide variety of unusual attractions ranging from the Dairy Farmers of Utah Butter Cow Sculpture to Mark Colp the Master Chainsaw Carver.
Jon Fajen, a senior from Cincinnati, said he enjoyed the Fair?s unusual attractions, particularly the rodeo and mechanical bull.
?Saturday we went up for the rodeo and we did the whole shebang,? Fajen said. ?We got some carnival food and funnel cakes, rode the mechanical bull, watched the fireworks show?you name it.?
Fajen said he and his friends spent hours at the fair Saturday and even enjoyed just walking around, looking at the people and booths.
?The fair is all about people in the state sharing what they do best,? Duncombe said. ?It really offers something for everyone.?
The Utah State Fair runs through Sept. 18.
