The fairgrounds also host a number of other events during the rest of the year. Organizationally, the fair is one of the divisions of the Colorado Department of Agriculture.[2]
History
When Colorado became a state in 1876, its state fair was already earning its place in history.[citation needed] In 1869, approximately two thousand people converged on what is now Pueblo for a horse exhibition; from that meager beginning was born the Colorado State Fair.[1]
There were cancellations in 1917–18 and 1942–45 due to World War I and World War II, respectively.
In 2011, the grand champion goat shown by Colorado State University student Maggie Weinroth was disqualified after failing a drug test.[3]Ractopamine was found by doing tests on the urine, blood, and tissues of the goat.[4] The Weinroth family appealed the decision, claiming the goat ingested a large amount of a foreign feed mixture overnight before the fair.[5] After months of fighting, the Weinroth family won their battle with the fair in March 2012.[6]
In November 2019, the Colorado State Fair was audited by the Colorado General Assembly.[7] As reported in local media, the audit found that the Fair had lost money for the previous 21 years in a row, with deficits averaging $4 million per year between 2014 and 2018.[8]
2020 saw drive-thru fair food and limited exhibitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]
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