24 Days Until Big E 2011!

The Big E is just 24 short days away! As I look out the window from the Marketing department, there are no tents up yet nor food vendors in their usual spots for the course of the 17-day Fair, but this will quickly change as the next few weeks’ progress, I assure you.

However, I see the many construction projects that are in full swing. Construction workers and pavers are hard at work to make this year’s Fair experience that much more enjoyable! Fairgoers this year are sure to be amazed at what they will witness when they step through the gates!

Here’s the 411:

The construction on the Equine Arena is nearing completion! Construction workers have been hard at work for weeks on end, getting the new arena built in preparation for the Fair this year. I am sure the horses will be very pleased with their new home! Speaking of horses, woven into the little experiences that make The Big E memorable are traditions that have been a part of the Fair for many years. The Eastern States Exposition Horse Show, sponsored by Williams Distributing will feature Hunters & Jumpers, Hunt Seat Equitation, and the USHJA Zone 1 Championship Sept 14-18; Saddlebreds, Hackneys, Morgans, Friesians and Arabians, Sept. 22-25; The Big E Draft Horse Show, with The Big E $30,000 Six-Horse Hitch Showdown, Sept. 29 – Oct 2; and the 4-H Horse Show, taking place Sept. 22-24.

Fairgoers will also be able to enjoy exhibits of animal power with competitions in Horse Pulling, Sept. 19, and Ox Pulling, Sept. 20, as well as the Sheepdog Trials, which run Sept. 26 and 27 at 10 a.m.

Smooth Sailing!

Hampden Avenue is receiving a make-over, and by make-over I mean getting repaved. Fairgoers will have smooth sailing as they navigate their way through the 2011 Big E.

Oh, and we cannot forget about the beautiful new flowers that have been planted throughout the grounds!

Big E Brochures are everywhere!

And boy do they look great, too! What a team effort to get beautifully articulated brochures printed and into the hands of excited fairgoers! The brochures will provide you with everything you need to know about this year’s Big E. Whether it is entertainment on our Comcast Arena Stage, this year’s ticket prices, or basic information, the Big E Brochure will give you the perfect inside scoop on what will be happening at this year’s Fair.

Circus Around The Clock, sponsored by Uncommon USA!

A new and exciting exhibit at the 2011 Big E is Circus Around the Clock, a day-in-the-life story of “The Greatest Show On Earth,” in a 24-hour visual depiction of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus under the big top. Rare film footage, black & white photography and the restored Mother Goose circus wagon are highlights. Interactive performances will be presented by T.J. Howell’s “You Can Juggle” Kids’ Show. Plus, the greatest animal features in circus history – Jumbo, Ringling’s “last giraffe,” Gargantua the Great and the sacred White Elephant.

Be sure to make your way over to the Young Building and check it out. I guarantee it to be an impressive exhibit as well as an unforgettable experience!

Wow! There are so many exciting events occurring at this year’s Fair. Be sure to look out for more updates that will be posted here frequently!

We will see you at the 2011 Big E!

Big E-xcitement!

Looking out the window of the Marketing Department is a different experience every hour! We’re in the final stages of putting the 2010 Big E together, and the grounds are rapidly transforming. Many of our vendor booths are already here like Millie’s, Netterfields and Osborn Mushroom Farm and the Cream Puff Bakery signs on the New England Center are already making my mouth water! On my way in from lunch I even noticed the Giant Wheel is up in the Midway, which is one of my favorite rides! 

Last Friday, they assembled the tent for The Big E Super Circus, it’s brand new this year and looks great. I’m really looking forward to the circus– there are so many new and exciting acts, including Miss Vicenta’s White Tigers, quick change artists David & Dania, Juggler Kris Kremo, Yelana Larkina’s Hula Hoop, Tempo Trapeze, Alexandra’s Net Trapeze and Raul Castano’s Dogs & Clown.The Super Circus is free, and happens three times a day at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. – a Big E experience that’s not to be missed.

The Official Program & Coupon Books were also delivered to us at the end of last week – almost anything you’d want to know about the 2010 Big E is in this beautiful 56- page, full color booklet. The “guidebook” as we often call it in the office was truly a team-effort this year and the end result is great! So whether you’re looking for a daily schedule of all our events, what food is offered from which vendor or what’s happening in the Mallary Complex, be sure to pick up your copy of the Official Program & Coupon Book on the grounds from the Elks.

I really can’t believe how fast these last few weeks have gone by! It’s almost “go-time!” Be sure to get your advanced tickets, which are still on sale until Wednesday, 9/15 at TheBigE.com, The Big E Box Office and at your local Big Y World Class Market. Advanced tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children, ages 6 – 12.

We’re also continuing our recycling efforts this year! When you’re at the Fair, be on the lookout for the can and bottle receptacles throughout the grounds and try not to throw them in with the trash. The Big E attracts over 1 million visitors each year and it’s amazing how much we can help the environment if together, we all recycle!

The 2010 Big E – “The Last Blast of Summer” – will be here in just four days!
What are you looking forward to most?

We're 22 days away!

It’s hard to believe but The Big E will be here in just three weeks from tomorrow, 8/27! You can really start to tell, too. Yesterday, I saw a crane carry a ticket booth past my window in the Brooks Building! It’s finally starting to feel like the Fair is in close range.

Even with 22 days left, there are a lot of things the grounds department are doing to prepare – so today, I took the golf cart and went to explore.

I put together this little video to show everyone what is happening :

Ticket booths are being placed at the gate entrances and tents are being set up around the grounds. They recently put the Farm-A-Rama sign on the sides of the Stroh building, which is one of my personal favorite buildings. I can’t wait to see the hatching chicks, tiny pigs and all the entertainment on the Farm-A-Rama stage!

I took a few shots of the Food Court, home of The Coffee Break which is now offering a whole new line of gastronomic delights including Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich, Fried Snickers, Fried Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bits and Frozen Hot Chocolate! Yummy! I can’t wait for all the food to get here!

Speaking of delicious new treats, everyone has to try the new Fried Jelly Beans this year on New England Avenue, near Gate 9A – sweet jelly beans rolled in funnel cake batter, fried until perfectly browned, and dusted with powdered sugar for the perfect soft, gooey treat. And maybe even Fried Butter, in plain or garlic, no less.

The Giant Slide stays up all year long, but doesn’t it look flashy? It was painted a fresh and bright new shade of yellow last month. And when you’re at The Big E this year, don’t miss the opportunity to check out the gorgeous new pond. It’s located right outside the Mallary Complex, and features benches, which are perfect for taking a short break from walking. The landscaping is so colorful and the gurgling water is so relaxing – and especially with the sun shining, I didn’t want to leave there today!

And of course, the bright blue Big E Gate banners are once again lining Memorial Ave!

There are still so many things left to do, and in just three weeks, this 175-acre fairground will transform into a magical place, filled with everything from smiling faces and competitive animals to tantalizing aromas and flashing lights. And I will be here to document it all… check back soon for another video documenting The Big E as it comes to life!

New! At the 2010 Big E

Opening day of The Big E will be here ONE MONTH from TODAY, and as you walk around the fairgrounds, you can feel it in the air! Everyone here at the Exposition is in full swing.

If you’ve looked at our website or been following our Facebook posts, we have five free, amazing concerts at the 2010 Big E! Country singer, Jason Michael Carroll, with special guest Jessie James will be here Friday, Sept. 24. On Saturday, Sept. 25, The Boys in Concert will be performing, a show which is reuniting the original stars of Broadway’s “Jersey Boys,” and rounding out that middle weekend on Sunday, Sept. 26 is American Idol contestant Danny Gokey. On the last weekend of the Fair, we have Boys Like Girls on Saturday, Oct. 2 and country singer Laura Bell Bundy on Sunday, Oct. 3.

All the performances will take place in the outdoor 6,000-seat Comcast Arena, and since it’s a free concert, it’s general admission seating. Pretty sweet to see a free show – but, if waiting in line isn’t your thing, you’re in luck. For the first time ever, The Big E is offering the chance to reserve a seat to any one of our free concerts for just $10! This way you will be guaranteed to have a close seat and you won’t miss that chance to ride the Giant Slide just one more time because you have to get in line ¬- what an awesome idea! If you’re interested, just head to TheBigE.com or The Big E Box Office and get your reserved ticket today.

There are also three ticketed concerts – pop sensation Owl City (Sat. Sept. 18), ventriloquist and winner of America’s Got Talent, Terry Fator (Sun. Sept 19) and country star Miranda Lambert, with guest stars Eric Church and Josh Kelley (Fri. Oct 1). Tickets to all three are still available at TheBigE.com and The Big E Box Office – the ticket price even includes your admission to The Big E so you can come in the afternoon, eat tons of delicious goodies, visit Farm-A-Rama, take a ride on the Giant Wheel, watch the Daily Parade at 5 p.m. and then see a top-notch performer that evening!

If you’ve been to The Big E in the past, you’ve probably seen the Mardi Gras parade, with the giant, authentic floats, flashing lights and costumed revelers who toss beads out to the fairgoers. Well this year, The Big E is offering a surprise: YOU can be in the center of the Big Easy excitement by purchasing a $10 ticket to ride the float! We will dress you up and give you a load of beads to toss to the fairgoers as you ride a float throughout the parade route. A limited number of tickets are available online at TheBigE.com and at The Big E Box office, so get your friends and family together for this once in a lifetime opportunity!

I’m getting more and more excited about The Big E as the days go on. My mouth waters every time I type the word Big E Cream Puff – I can’t wait until it’s finally Fairtime! How about you, what are you most excited for?

The Musicians Hall of Fame comes to the 2010 Big E

Big E Special Events Director, John Juliano, recently got confirmation that a very special exhibit will be coming to the 2010 fair – The Musicians Hall of Fame! Located in the Young Building, there will be displays, artifacts and instruments, videos, music and histories of many of American’s greatest artists, including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash.

The museum, which was originally housed in Nashville, closed earlier this year and was demolished to make way for the city’s new Music City Convention Center. Joe Chambers, MHOF Founder, is looking for a place to relocate, but is currently unsure of where or when.

In this rare opportunity, we will see many of the Musicians Hall of Fame’s original exhibits including drum sets, gold records, bass guitars, six string electric guitars and clothing. Also included will be the recording machine that Elvis used to make his first record, a gift for his mother, which led to Sam Phillips signing him to the label and releasing "That's Alright Mama," and Hal Blaine's blue sparkle Ludwig Drum Kit - the actual kit used on most of the Beach Boys, The Mamas & The Papas, Byrds, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, and the Carpenters’ albums.

There’s always so much more that goes into the production of a song than just what you hear on the final album. So whether you are a jazz music buff or an occasional lover of rock and roll, it’s going to be pretty cool! Discover the magic inside the Musicians Hall of Fame exhibit at the 2010 Big E.

Everyone is getting into full swing, as the fair is only 49 days away! I can’t believe how fast time has gone by – Do you think summer is going by fast, too? A lot of ESE people were on vacation the past two weeks, now it’s full speed for the busy (and exciting) times ahead in the months of August and September.

The Marketing department is working with the graphic designer on the Program and Coupon book, and so far the completed pages look awesome. It’s the official guidebook of The Big E and the best way to ensure you don’t miss anything here on your visit. There are descriptions of all the events and exhibits, a daily schedule, the lists of vendors and sponsors, and of course, who doesn’t love coupons?! Some people love having everything planned out before the Fair and already know where all their favorite spots are, while others just like to wander around and stumble upon hidden Big E gems. Either way, the 2010 Fair is filled with many new exhibits and old favorites. How do you usually navigate around The Big E?

We’ve also been working closely with our ad agency, Mascola, as we prepare to launch the 2010 print, radio and TV ads and promotions. Our theme this year is “The Last Blast of Summer” so be sure to be on the look out!

The Making of Maria Margerita: An interview with artist Pat Ormsby

If you’ve driven down Memorial Avenue lately, you may have noticed Eastern States Exposition’s newest guest outside of Gate 2 – Maria Margerita, The Mardi Gras Dog. The West Highland Park Terrier is one of 46 colorfully decorated dogs, or “Terriers Around Town,” gracing businesses and various areas throughout the town. Each is sponsored, with the proceeds benefiting West Springfield school arts programs.

The project was spearheaded by Jane Barrientos and Christine Costanzi, who are hoping to raise $70,000 to fund art projects for school-aged children in the community. Although West Springfield is not typically known as an arts town, the women said that businesses have responded very well to sponsoring the project.

Our Mardi Gras puppy was designed, painted and adorned by West Springfield resident and artist, Pat Ormsby. I got the special chance to speak with Ormsby via phone last month to see just how one goes about designing a four-foot tall fiberglass dog.

Ormsby, a known oil painter around town, was approached by the Terriers Around Town committee to sketch an idea for the new project. Having seen projects similar to this in other towns, Ormsby believed the flashier the design, the more fun the dog would be. She initially created a “Fancy Lady” sketch, similar to a 1920’s flapper, which included the individual jewels and mirrored tiles, as well as a flapper headband.

Exposition officials asked for a “Mardi Gras” dog and fell in love with Ormsby’s flashy puppy design. Their only request was her headband be changed to a Mardi Gras mask since the Mardi Gras Parade has been an annual tradition at The Big E since 2000. The Westie was given the name “Maria Margerita, The Mardi Gras Dog” by Ormsby’s granddaughter.

The artist used shiny, colorful jewels and mirrored tiles to create the fancy outfit for Maria Margerita. Using bondo, the same tool used in car repair, Ormsby stuck each jewel on individually and the putty would dry within five minutes.

A lot of research went into choosing the materials and creating a design plan. There were also a lot of requirements for what kinds of supplies were used, since the dog would be outside in the sun, rain, and dirt.

“The biggest challenge I faced was the fact that I had never done anything like this before,” said Ormsby. “If I make a painting that I don’t like, I can just throw it away. I couldn’t just throw this away.”

However, once she got going, her creation came to life fast. “It took much longer to plan the design than to execute it,” said Ormsby.

While working on the exquisite jeweled blouse, Ormsby spray-painted the bottom half of the dog blue. She initially made several attempts to create a skirt for Maria, however, according to Ormsby, nothing looked quite right. She explained her dilemma to one of the neighborhood boys who was there on a visit when he said, “Oh, I thought she was wearing jeans.” And there, the idea for blue jeans on Maria Margerita was born. Ormsby also gave the puppy hot pink nail polish and lipstick, a Rolex watch and gold bracelet to add to the “flashy effect.”

The last remaining challenge for Ormsby was designing the Mardi Gras Mask. For the first time in her life as an artist, she used sculpting clay. After several failed attempts that included the clay sticking to her kitchen table and on wax paper, Ormsby knew she just had to give it her best shot and affix the quickly-drying mask as soon as it was molded. “If I had to do it again, it’d be no problem. I just wasn’t used to the consistency of the clay the first time,” she said.

Be on the lookout for all 46 Terriers who will make an appearance in the Big E Parade at 5 p.m. on West Springfield Day, Monday, September 20!

To get the latest information, become a Fan of Terriers Around Town on Facebook!

We're just two months away...

It’s been a busy – and exciting – week here at The Big E! With only 62 days left until the Northeast’s largest fair open its gates for another round of fun, it seems like everyone is in full swing.

If you’ve been to TheBigE.com this week, you’ve noticed that we have a BRAND NEW website! (If you haven’t seen it yet, you have to check it out!) Months and months of preparation went into designing the site, transferring files from the old site and populating new content – and to be honest, it looks great! The new site is bursting with beautiful colors, unique photographs from last year’s fair and flash animation. And it’s very easy to navigate –anything you’d ever want to know, from which vendors will be here this year to how to enter the Karo Syrup Perfect Pie contest, is on the site and organized in convenient drop-down menus.

What’s even cooler is that the move was a big one, changing over from one very basic site to four new sites – Eastern States Exposition, The Big E, Storrowton Village and the ESE Foundation. So it’s now easier than ever to stay up to date with the year-round events we have on the grounds. If you’re looking for information on ESE scholarships or thinking about getting married at the picturesque Village, you’ll be able to find information on those things too.

The website was designed by Ntelligent Systems in California and meetings began in early February with their principal Michael Geisen. So much time and hard work has gone into this new site by many of our staff members and it’s great to see it up and running! We hope you enjoy it.

The other big news is that Country music star MIRANDA LAMBERT is coming to The Big E on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 8pm as part of the CMT Revolution Tour, with Guest Star Eric Church and Introducing Josh Kelley!

Miranda’s career is on fire – this year she won three ACM awards, Top Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year and Video of the Year, and CMT Female Video of the Year. On the rise and with no sign of slowing down, Miranda is poised to make a lasting impression on the Country music world. She’s going to totally light up the stage! Tickets are $29/ $39 for seats, and $49 for the “dance party area,” where the Big E crew is going to remove a bunch of rows of seats so people can dance and be really close to the stage… awesome!
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (7/16) at http://www.thebige.com/ and at The Big E Box Office.

Watch the ACM Video of the Year : White Liar by Miranda Lambert

The grounds department is busy planting flowers and getting the grounds ready for the Fair. Last week I got a great flip video of the dome from the Mallary Rotunda being taken down for refurbishing. (It was really windy out that day!) It was unbolted and removed by a crane in preparation for a new fabric cover. The ESE painters are currently sanding and refinishing the dome and it will be reinstalled soon.

Like I said, there’s always something to be done around here! For the latest updates, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and join The Big E mailing list at http://www.thebige.com/!