From butter sculptures to deep-fried beer, swine races to pickle politics, NPR presents the biggest, best, and weirdest sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of America’s annual ritual.

Step right up as the gates swing open at fairgrounds across the USA. This delightful collection explores the unique joys of the public gatherings that take place in cities and small towns, when people of all stripes and sizes meet to gawk at cows, ponder seed art, get hypnotized, compete in husband-calling contests, and eat virtually anything on a stick.

Farming, food, politics, parades, shilling, glad-handing, people-watching, and silliness are celebrated here. If you’ve been to a fair or festival, you’ll love this collection. If you haven’t, here’s what you’ve been missing.

Contents:

Introduction by Noah Adams

Garrison Keillor at the Minnesota State Fair

Postcard: Texas State Fair

A Break from Politics at the County Fair

Hard Work, Some Play at the Iowa State Fair

Swine Bring “Olympig” Racing to County Fairs

Postcard: Collectibles at the Fair

“Lovey” Replaces “Sooey” in Husband-Calling Contest

The Minnesota State Fair on a Stick

Voices from the National Cornbread Festival

Iowa’s Butter Cow Lady

Competitive Wood Chopping in West Virginia

Mountain View Folk Festival

Melvin the Human Blockhead

The Phelps of Food Canning

The Funnel Cake King

On the Midway: A Fairbanks Carnival

Lost and Found Sound: Carnival Talkers