Kinds of fairs and listings
The words we use to sort the directory. Each entry gets one main type. Fairs are events with dates; amusement parks and midway attractions are places with a season.
- Agricultural fair
- A fair built around farming: livestock shows, 4-H, produce and home-craft competitions, usually with a midway alongside. (none in the directory yet)
- Exhibition
- A big city fair, often more than a century old, that began as an industrial or farm showcase and now mixes a midway, shows, concerts and exhibits. (2 in the directory)
- County or state fair
- A US fair held for a county or a whole state, usually agricultural at heart, with a midway. (none in the directory yet)
- Carnival
- A travelling show of rides and games that sets up for a few days, often alongside a community event. (none in the directory yet)
- Midway-only event
- A stand-alone midway: rides, games and food without a fair around it. (none in the directory yet)
- Festival with a midway
- A festival whose main draw is something else (music, a holiday, a harvest) that brings in a midway too. (none in the directory yet)
- Amusement park
- A fixed park of rides and games that opens for a season or all year, usually with a midway of its own. Some host a fair's rides when the fair is on. (1 in the directory)
- Midway attraction
- A year-round or seasonal place with rides or a midway that isn't a full amusement park: a pier, a boardwalk or a family fun centre. (none in the directory yet)
Kinds of listings
Beyond the fairs: the rest of the midway world. Arcades, museums and historic rides sit under their city, like a fair. Companies and associations get a page of their own that says where they work. Listings are free and factual; nobody pays to be here.
- Arcades and game rooms
- A room or hall of coin-op, card-swipe or free-play games: pinball, video cabinets, redemption games and skill games, open on its own rather than as part of a fair. (1 in the directory)
- Museums and collections
- A museum or public collection about the midway world: circuses, carnivals, mechanical amusements and automata, carousels, sideshows and the history of fairs. (1 in the directory)
- Historic carousels and rides
- A carousel or other ride old enough to have a history of its own: who made it and when, who carved it, where it travelled, how it was restored and whether it is protected. (1 in the directory)
- Midway operators and travelling carnivals
- A company that owns rides and games and takes them on the road, setting up the midway at fairs, exhibitions, rodeos and festivals through the season. (1 in the directory)
- Ride and game manufacturers
- A company that designs and builds amusement rides or midway games, sold to parks, fairs and travelling shows. (1 in the directory)
- Vendors and suppliers
- A business that supplies fairs, carnivals and concessions: concession equipment, prizes and plush, tickets and wristbands, game supplies. Listed as facts only. (1 in the directory)
- Associations and trade shows
- A body that fairs, showmen or suppliers belong to, and the conventions and trade shows it runs. (1 in the directory)
The Midway Mailbag
New fairs, festivals, midways and attractions as we add them to the directory. About twice a month in fair season, less in winter.