But there is more to the fair and its history than just strange foods, fuzzy cows, concerts and carnival rides.
“You walk on the fairgrounds. There’s so much personality on this fairground,” Stoller said, “so much history. It’s timeless.”
It’s not just the grounds that breathe life into the Colorado State Fair. There have been 150 years of people putting energy and emotion into showing their condition. There is no definitive state fair historian, so the timeline and information in the rest of this story came from several sources: the Colorado Online Encyclopedia, the folks at the Pueblo County Historical Society, and the Fair’s own materials.
Most people say the first fair was held near Pueblo in 1872. Agricultural and industrial exhibits drew spectators during that first event. But it seems that the most popular activity was something that is still a favorite for many – a horse show.
Shanna Lewis / KRCC Mariah Kayton enjoys a corn dog at the 2015 Colorado State Fair. - Shanna Lewis / KRCC
A competitor removes a steer from the herd during the horse show at the 2021 Colorado State Fair in Pueblo.
In the following decades the fair moved to several locations in the city. The 1887 event was so successful that the following year the state legislature designated Pueblo as the official home of the Colorado State Fair and encouraged every county in the state to set up an exposition there. But after that there were ups and downs. At the turn of the century, people began rumbling that maybe Pueblo should lose the fair. So the city stepped up its game.
Courtesy of the Colorado State Fair Collection, Department of Local History and Genealogy, Pueblo City-County Library District.It’s mostly freight trains that run through Pueblo now, but in the early days of the fair there were a lot of passenger trains, and in 1900, the railroads lowered their ticket prices so people could come from out of state more easily. The fair still featured agricultural and industrial exhibits, but the attractions expanded, with a downtown street extravaganza including a carnival, music and even a booth that looked like a giant Chinese pagoda.
An undated photo of the Las Animas County exhibit at a previous Colorado State Fair. An undated photo of the fairgrounds at a previous Colorado State Fair.
But Pueblo still needed a better permanent site for the fair. So in 1901 she moved again. This time in her current location. New stables were built and new events were added such as the diving horse show in 1905.
And by 1918, 4H facilities were built at what had become a state-owned and funded fairgrounds. The traditional 4H livestock, home economics and agriculture competitions continue to be a staple at the fair.
An undated photo of an overturned vehicle at an earlier Colorado State Fair. An undated aerial photo of the Colorado State Fairgrounds in its current location, showing the long-gone track.
Ashlyn Rockey of Center attended the livestock show last year. “It’s really important to show our way of life and show why it’s really important to us,” she said for a KRCC story last year. “I think it’s really cool to let little kids touch the fluffy cows. I really like that.”
Ashlyn Rockey of Center uses a dryer to prepare her steer for the livestock show at the 2021 Colorado State Fair in Pueblo. 14-year-old Alice Zuber of Fairplay shows goats at the 2018 Colorado State Fair.
But 4H nowadays includes all kinds of modern activities like robotics, model rockets and photography.
Fiesta Day celebrations of Hispanic culture began in 1967 and have since become some of the busiest days at the fair, featuring a traditional Mexican rodeo, a parade and of course, music.
“I grew up two blocks from here,” Raoul Sanchez of Pueblo said in a 2018 story. Sanchez said he had been coming to the fair for 50 years. “I love it and it’s a tradition and it’s something that’s important to the Pueblo — not just for economic reasons but for cultural reasons. The state fair reminds us of all the rich culture in the Pueblo and gives us a chance to show it off go away and enjoy it.”
The CSU Pueblo Thunderwolves Marching Band performs at the 2021 Colorado State Fair in Pueblo. Members of the CSU-Pueblo Mariachi band Los Lobos play for the crowd during the 51st annual Fiesta Day celebration at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018.
At its peak about a decade ago, more than 500,000 people attended the 11-day fair. The COVID-19 pandemic largely shut it down in 2020, but people still lined up for a food fair ride through the events.
In the past decade, however, state lawmakers and others have criticized the fair’s leadership, and those old rumblings of moving the fair elsewhere still surface. But now, a $180 million facelift is underway at the historic fairgrounds.
Stoller said this year a new entrance gate on the west side is just the beginning of a 20-year master plan to improve the facility.
Kids cool off and have fun in the water fountain at the 2015 Colorado State Fair. Young dancers from Rock-N-Robbins Dance Studio in Pueblo perform at the 2015 Colorado State Fair.
“People will experience that change. They will see a big difference between what is new, what is old,” he said. “It’s very powerful to be there in that transition between the new gate project and the square that’s coming.”
Stoller is looking forward to an outdoor food court adjacent to the new entrance that is on the to-do list for next year. The master plan also calls, in part, for a new livestock building and the renovation of historic structures.
Stoller said launching the master plan renovations during the fair’s 150th year connects history with the future.
The state fair continues through Labor Day.
Editor’s Note: CPR/KRCC is a media sponsor of the Colorado State Fair.
1940 Colorado State Fair Premium List An advertisement for a Nat King Cole performance at the 1958 Colorado State Fair.
