FAIRLEA, W.Va. — After a challenging year due to the closure of the 2020 State Fair, food vendors are back on the fair grounds this week to offer fan favorites and generate revenue again.
“Food is probably one of the most popular things here,” said State Fair CEO Kelly Collins. “There’s vendors that have been here for 50 years.”
One of those vendors includes Ben Ellen Donuts. Owner Tommy Vance refers to their donuts as “a State Fair tradition.”
“This is known as an eating fair. There’s several items here that you can only find one time a year,” Vance told MetroNews.
Vance also owns Belt’s Pizza, Green Parrot Shaved Ice, Strawberry Shortcake, T’s and the Philly Cheese Steak Stand. He depends on the fair financially, which is why he had make some layoffs last year to keep his businesses afloat.
“By being local, we were able to find enough people to staff us as of now. Let’s hope that continues through the rest of the fair,” he said.
Carol Gross owns the Elephant Ear funnel cake and popcorn/cotton candy stands. She said she prefers owning a trailer rather than a stand-alone restaurant.
“This is nicer because in a restaurant, you can only do so much business. If you’re in an area where business isn’t doing good, you just go somewhere else,” Gross said.
The State Fair isn’t the only event Gross participates in. She said her team is typically on the move from March through November of each year. She and other vendors tried to get creative throughout 2020 when fairs and festivals were canceled.
“This is our job. We set up along the road in a few places. The fair here last year did their food drive through and we did that,” she said.
Collins said fair goers can enjoy a food contest this year.
“This is the third time that we’ve done it, so there’s some unique foods people can try and vote on their favorites. I know there’s a pickle pizza,” she said with a laugh.
Throughout the fair grounds there are COVID safety measures in place including hand sanitizing stations on the property, social distancing marks and mask recommendations. Staff has been increasing cleaning and conducting contact tracing after four people tested positive at the fair on Monday. Those people have been isolated.
The Greenbrier County Health Department is on site to administer free COVID vaccines for anyone 12 and older.
The State Fair runs through Saturday.