Fairs Change to Keep Fairgoer Interest

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Besides the obligatory funnel cake and foods on a stick, this year's Illinois State Fair offers a new dish to savor: a questionable-looking brown liquid covered in thick foam that smells vaguely of pickle juice.

Tentatively called "the gross milkshake," it's one of the foods that organizers are daring people to try as part of an event called "Fair Factor," a take on the former NBC show "Fear Factor."

The fair opened Friday in Springfield and runs until Sunday, Aug 17.

The Fair Factor challenge will take place every evening, with participants weighing whether to eat the milkshake, pigs' feet, bugs and more - all for a chance to win prizes like concert tickets.

Will anyone actually volunteer?

Amy Bliefnick, the fair's director, thinks so. Even though one variety of the milkshake concoction is made of mayonnaise, gravy mix, prune juice and relish, she said people will try it because they like to feel they are part of the fair.

"People like being involved," she said. "We try to book interactive activities."

Bliefnick said because this year's theme is "A Family Tradition," she focused on booking events that would interest entire families.

One example: go-kart racing on the second weekend of the fair. "We priced those tickets low so families could afford to come," she said. Tickets are $5 to watch, and drivers can participate for $40.

Most of the competitive events in state fairs are grounded in rural traditions, like baking contests or hog calling. But this year, for the first time, there will be a step dance competition. Step dancing is a percussive dance with its roots in historically black fraternities and sororities.

The competition will be held at the Grandstand Aug. 14 at 8 p.m. and costs $5 to attend.

Bliefnick said the dance contest is an attempt to draw in more people who typically might not attend the fair.

Attendance has dropped from a peak of more than 1.2 million in 2002 to about 613,000 in 2007. The sagging economy and high cost of fuel could be a damper on the fair's numbers this year.

But Bliefnick said the fair, which she's promoting as a "staycation," will continue to draw people in about a 120 mile radius from Springfield. She stressed that Illinois' admission fee is the lowest in the country, at $3 for adults and children 12 or under free.

Livestock show entries are fewer this year.

Mike Caskey of Clinton, whose two grandsons brought eight pigs to show, said he's paying almost double what it cost last year to feed the animals. The fuel costs to transport them from fair to fair also are imposing.

Vendors' costs are rising, too, even as high fuel costs have them worrying crowds will be light this year.

"I was really debating whether I should come," said Unkyong Henslee, who has operated the Korean food stand in the fair's Ethnic village for 18 years.

Henslee, who lives in Benton Harbor, Mich., said driving down to Illinois has become a huge expense for less business opportunity.

Organizers are hoping concert performances will draw crowds.

This year they nabbed R&B singer Fergie, one of the country's hottest acts both solo and as a member of Black-Eyed Peas. They're also aiming for a young audience with Natasha Bedingfield and Vanessa Hudgens, popular among "tweens" for the Disney show "High School Musical."

Also appearing: Huey Lewis and the News, Brooks and Dunn, ZZ Top and Trace Adkins.