New rides, food vendors await at 50th State Fair

The annual 50th State Fair starts this weekend with new rides including Speed and The Seven Seas, monster truck demos, circus acts and some new fun foods, all coming together at Aloha Stadium.

E.K. Fernandez will offer its always-popular fare including pizza, burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, french fries, onion rings, cotton candy, popcorn, caramel corn, candied apples, pretzels, fresh-squeezed lemonade, smoothies, deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos, and funnel cakes, but outside food vendors also will be on hand serving up their own types of treats.

To get into the fair, ride rides, play games and eat food, a Fun Pass card system has replaced the old paper scrip, said Donna Smith, vice president of E.K. Fernandez Shows. While last year there were long lines of attendees buying and loading the cards at kiosks, “We still have those kiosks that take credit cards and cash, but we bought 30 new machines that will speed up the process,” she said.

New to the fair’s food scene this year will be 808 Shrimp & Steak, serving up spicy shrimp, lemon butter shrimp, steak with mushrooms and onions, and a steak-and-shrimp combo for those desiring surf-and-turf, as well as kalbi and barbecue chicken. 808’s plate prices will range from 100 to 140 credits.

Other food vendors at this year’s fair will be Crazy Country Corn offering roasted corn, brisket chili and rice, and a fair first: giant smoked turkey legs. “We’ve never had turkey legs at the state fair. We had them in Hawaii Kai, when we did the Hawaii Kai Carnival, and they were really popular,” Smith said.

Mahoe’s Hawaiian Delights will offer garlic shrimp or seared ahi, smoked meat with onions, and Hawaiian favorites including kalua pork and laulau. Its Royal Hawaiian Plate consisting of laulau, pork, lomi salmon, haupia and hapa rice or poi tops out Mahoe’s price list at 150 credits.

Dick’s Lechon will offer lechon, pulled pork, chicken plates, skewers, lumpia, empanada, cascaron and a variety of other dishes to be included as part of a combination plate. Dick’s prices range from 30 credits for cascaron to 140 credits for a combo plate.

Olay’s Thai Express will be bringing the heat to the 50th State Fair, but for the spice-averse, Olay’s also offers many mild dishes. Prices at Olay’s range from 10 credits for juice up to 130 credits for a two-choice combination plate with sticky rice or pad Thai, but the company also will offer a la carte servings.

The commercial food vendors apply to be able to sell their menu items at the fair, while the E.K. Fernandez food wagons and game venues give nonprofit organizations and community groups opportunities to raise money.

“Most of the games are run by nonprofit organizations, and the people offering the food wagons are often nonprofit organizations,” Smith said. Groups raising money for Project Graduation for various schools, a group affiliated with the U.S. Marine Corps hoping to raise money to attend the Marine Corps Ball, and others have made E.K. Fernandez events part of their fundraising strategy, she said.