Rochester Fair

If you like rides, this is the place. $14 for a wrist band for most rides all day.
The animal section is really small. The food is pretty greasy and marginal, except for Hebert's $5 Lobster rolls.
The circus is OK, but since it is included in the price...it's a deal.
It's been there forever, and looks forlorn, so enjoy before it eventually ends its long run

#1. They have an all day pass of unlimited rides for $35 (as of 2019). The catch is you can only purchase the mega-pass online. The five dollar parking fee is waived with this purchase when you reach the gate.

#2. The fair contracts with a circus troupe with sixth generation acrobats. The MC was great, the hula hoop woman was astounding. Audience participation included young muscular men, all of whom had a sense of humor about the charade.

#3. Just outside the big top we got water for $2. I don't want you to miss the memo--it is pretty hot and somewhat stuffy under the big circus top. Adjacent to the water stand we found a stage for magicians. The magician's opening act was much funnier than expected.

#4. The demolition derby show lasts about three hours and is totally with the $10 admission if you have a youngster who is excited about such things.

Last but not least. #5. As we departed our son had one last request, the bumper cars again. We found them but there was no one else in line, sad. Although I did not pay for a mega-pass the attendant let me drive one car with my husband and son in the other. That was a great way to end a wonderful day.

Oh the Rochester Fair, I've been going here since I was a kid, I'm now 32 and have only been twice in the last 10 years. My most recent trip was just last month, only because we had free passes to get in, I would NEVER pay to go to this fair.
The entry fee is $14, not too bad, considering it includes all of the rides as well. BUT, even if you're not planning on riding the rides, too bad, you still have to pay the $14 fee! On top of the $14 entry fee, you'll have to fork over another $5 to park inside the fairgrounds, unless you're feeling brave and you want to try to find parking on Lafayette St (I would not recommend this).
Every year, this fair gets worse and worse, wait, I take that back, every year, the city of Rochester and its dwellers get worse and worse. As if Rochester wasn't trashy enough on its own, once a year this fair is held and ALL of the trash ends up together in one place for a week.
The animal barn exhibits were ok, cows, chickens, big pigs, baby pigs, ducks, llamas, alpacas, goats, etc. The people who are watching over their animals in the barns are generally not too friendly, sometimes you'll find a nice one, but they're few and far between. You're better off talking to the animals.
The games are old, pricey and the "prizes" are garbage, 90% of the rides are the SAME rides that were there when I was 10 years old (that can't be safe), there are a ridiculous amount of food vendors all crammed into one area, and most of their prices are ridiculous. I hit up 3 food vendors when I go there, because I know they'll always be there, Michaels for a $6 sausage sub, John's French Fries for their fries, and Pats for the apple crisp.
I refuse to go to the "circus" that they have there, really, I just refuse to go to any circus. I don't think that animals should have to work their whole lives to entertain humans. I admit, I did go see the giraffes, it made me SO happy to be so close to one of my favorite animals, but it also absolutely broke my heart to see these massive creatures being held in such small enclosures. They also had a kangaroo, who was in what looked like a dog harness, he looked completely out of it and was just staring at the wall, there was also a zebra, and some other "exotic" animals that just looked like goats with fancy names.
The exhibit buildings are the same as they have always been, quilts, garden veggies, big pumpkins, don't blink or you'll miss them! There's a guy in the exhibit hall that sells fudge, I was pretty close to getting some, until I saw he was charging $14 per pound! No thanks, I'm sure my moms recipe is better anyways. I remember as a kid my mom would always go into the exhibit hall, there was a little walk up counter restaurant type place that served scrambled hamburger subs, she always had to get one when we went, but I noticed this time around, it was still there, but no longer up and running. The "bingo" hall was also converted into just a seating area, which was pretty disappointing, and the "Candy Man" was gone, another disappointment.
All in all, I would not recommend this fair to anyone, I think most people in the area probably go for the nostalgia of it all, it was once a great fair, with harness racing, bingo, the candy man, fun and exciting games and rides, now its a run down, sad pathetic excuse of a "fair."

This is a nice little fair with a lot of rides for the kids and junk food options (try the grilled bacon!). The show was monster trucks that my seven year old loved. Not the biggest or best county fair but a good day out if you have young children.

We went this year for the first time and had no idea about what type of fair it was. It is really a local carnival vs. a country fair. Very few animals, some brought in like the two Giraffe - really! At one time this must have been larger and more active. Now the buildings are abandoned and look sad. Mostly carnival rides now -

Went to the fair this weekend with a lot of kids ; my kids and my nieces ! Had a great time and the prices were for lack of a better word fair ! Love the idea that the entrance fee includes all rides on the midway ! The food is typical fair food / loved Mikeys fries always good and they have a great variety of food from kettle corn to fried oreo's / Sausage with the trimmings still $6.00 at Michael's Sausage stand ( smaller stand but super clean ) The kids loved the hay themed maze ( almost a playground of hay _ whoever thought to throw a bunch of hay bails around and it would keep so many kids entertained for hours / every time I walked by there were at least 30 kids playing on it / super cool - the barns are smaller at this fair and easy to get to since the fair is not made up of hills so for those who are handicapped this would be a great fair since it is almost all level ground / I also liked that the barns were not huge because having little ones it makes it easier to keep track of them all and keeps them from looking at 100 cows they stay entertained by looking at different things in a small time span / the pig races were cute and my kids enjoyed them / the huge pumpkins were another thing we enjoyed looking at ( wonderful timing ) right before fall -
The only reason this is not getting five stars is because the fair was great during the daylight hours but it appeared as the night went on there was some drinking and other unsavory things happening / so if you are going to bring little ones go early in the morning and leave as we did by dusk - other than that had a fabulous time !

AWFUL. AWFUL. AWFUL. AWFUL. AWFUL.
First, with every fair around charging an average of $10 for adults and admitting children under age 12 for free, where does the Rochester Fair think they get off charging $14 per person, including young children? Not everyone wants to ride the rides, some people just want to go see the animals, eat some food, see the exhibits and play a few games. My senior citizen parents don't want to go on the rides. My husband and I don't want to go on rides. My 19 month old son may want to go on a few rides, or he may be having an off day and not want to ride any of them. It's outrageous to charge this amount for a fair with almost no vendors and very few animals. To charge children in strollers and elderly people in wheelchairs the full $14 just because it includes rides is absolutely greedy. Especially when I can go to a clean park (ie. Story Land or Fun Town) and put my child on their rides for free. I know they want to make the money in their one week per year, but there is a right and wrong way of doing it. Even the woman at the ticket stand agreed that we shouldn't have to pay $14 for our young child to ride a few kids rides, especially when there were only 7 rides he could even go on!
Second, it is the epitome of tackiness to have signs plastered all over the restrooms saying that they are "stocked for tips only!" I'm sorry, I expect my $14 to include toilet paper, hand soap and paper towels. I am NOT tipping a restroom attendant after paying an exuberant entrance fee. It's in such poor taste to allow this.
Next, if they are going to post "No Smoking" signs at the entrance, then they should enforce it. My family definitely lost a year off each our lives from the second hand smoke we couldn't get away from. Why even bother posting the signs if it's just a joke? It's absolutely disgusting to have to walk through a crowd of people every 5 feet puffing away. Every cop at the fair was just standing around eating. If they're being paid to be there, maybe they should actually do something. Enforcing the no smoking rule would be a start.
I completely understand the lack of vendors at this fair. It makes total sense that they wouldn't want to bother setting up for a week at this fair. There are a few exhibits but if you miss them, you aren't missing much. There are a ton of food stands, and the pricing on the food is anywhere from reasonable ($5 sausage sub) to slightly unreasonable ($6 for a fried dough). The games are old and boring. Is it really necessary to have FOUR water gun game booths???
This is just a bad fair. Go to Deerfield, go to Freyburg, but don't want your time here. It was horrible.