Wave Swinger - Great Allentown Fair 2014The Great Allentown Fair in Allentown, PA is one of the very few fairs that I’ll travel out of state for and the last “big” fair I attend each year. Now, at the beginning of the week I didn’t even know if I was going to head over to this as I unfortunately had to put my dog to sleep on Monday. We had a chihuahua that was 15 years old and her numerous ailments finally got the best of her. So needless to say I was kind of bummed and not really in the fairgoing mood. However, as the week went on, I eventually decided to head over on Friday, August 29th.

I left at around 3:30pm and hit a mound of traffic on Route 78. I ended up getting to the fair after 5pm. This time I tried to get field parking offered by the fair, but they reached capacity right as I got there. Luckily there was a lot across the street that was offering $8 for parking, the same as the fair. The midway was done by Powers Great American Midways and had…

Trip Report: 2014 Great Allentown Fair

Kenilworth Fire Dept FairOn Saturday, August 23rd, I headed over the Fire Department carnival in Kenilworth, NJ. I had found out about this fair last year and it was pretty tough to pass up being a relatively quick ride.

I left for the fair at around 7:30pm, arrived 20 minutes later and parked a few blocks away from the fair. Blue Sky Amusements was doing the fair (my third BSA carnival this year!) and the fair had…

Trip Report: 2014 Kenilworth Fire Dept. Carnival

Looping Dragon - Six Flags Great AdventureJanuary 2015 update: This ride is now going to be called El Diablo. Same ride, they just decided on a different name, likely to incorporate it into Plaza del Carnival rather than Golden Kingdom.

Six Flags Great Adventure announced today the addition of a new ride for the 2015 season. Looping Dragon, a Larson 22 meter Fireball model, will be placed in the Golden Kingdom section of the park, around the former location of Rolling Thunder which was removed this past off season. The ride will feature “face-off” style seating and “heart pounding” 360 degree loops.

It will be Great Adventure’s 13th roller coaster…wait, what?

News: Six Flags Great Adventure to add Looping Dragon in 2015

New Jersey State Fair 2014There seems to be an increasing number of “state fairs” in New Jersey now. There’s “State Fair” Meadowlands, Freedom Fest “State Fair,” and New Jersey “State Fair.” The only one that can really lay claim to the official “state fair” designation is the New Jersey State Fair & Sussex County Farm and Horse Show up in Augusta, NJ.

The fair went from August 1 to the 10th. As usual, I went with a couple of my cousins. We arrived at about 12pm on the 6th and redeemed our mega passes at the gate. Reithoffer Shows‘ blue unit was running the midway and the fair had…

Trip Report: 2014 New Jersey State Fair

2014 Berkeley Heights Mount Carmel FestivalThe Mount Carmel Festival in Berkeley Heights, NJ is the one fair that I always know the dates of: July 12 to July 16. More notably, it always…always, ends on the 16th, the feast day of Mount Carmel. This means that sometimes the event has weird days, like starting on a Saturday and ending on Wednesday, like it did this year.

Ace Amusements had the midway once again. I was going to bike over on Wednesday to check out the racked rides and maybe some buildup, but they were already mostly setup by Tuesday, the 8th! No point in biking over now, so I just headed over on Sunday, the 13th. The fair had…

Trip Report: 2014 Feast of Mount Carmel Festival