WEST ALLIS -- The Wisconsin State Fair is officially underway.
The gates at State Fair Park opened at 8 a.m. Thursday.
Cheryl Daly and her three granddaughters were among the first fairgoers in line.
“There’s just something special about the Wisconsin State Fair. It's beautiful,” Daly said. "We like eating the cream puffs, going down the big slide, and of course the pig races and the animals.
Kristi Chuckel, the communications director for the Wisconsin State Fair, said vendors this year are featuring roughly 80 new food vendors.
“This is something we plan an entire year for,” Chuckel said.
She had some simple advice for any first time fair attendees.
“Make sure you have a cream puff,” Chuckel said.
Admission to get in to the fair is $12 for adults. But until 4 p.m. Thursday, people can enter for $2 if they bring two non-perishable food items to donate to the Hunger Task Force. The promotion is sponsored by Wells Fargo.
“We’re going to bring in about 150,000 pounds of food. That’s a semi-trailer load of food,” said Sherrie Tussler, the executive director for the Hunger Task Force. “One in five kids in the city of Milwaukee is living in poverty,”we’re going to make sure we feed those kids through our local food pantry network.”
The Wisconsin State Fair is open until 11 p.m. Thursday night. It runs through August 14.
