The 50th State Fair has officially entered the 21st century. For the first time ever, guests won’t need cash to pay for admission to the annual multiweekend event at Aloha Stadium. Traditional carnival-style scrip has been rendered obsolete, replaced by the all-new E.K. Fernandez Fun Pass.
You’ll still need cash to pay for parking, but get to the fair entrance and “instead of seeing fare boxes, you’ll see this bank of machines. A person can go up and take cash or a credit card and then determine how much money they want to put on their card,” said E.K. Fernandez Shows Vice President Donna Smith. “When they enter the fairgrounds, there’s a (scanning) device right there. Whichever ride they want to get on, they can use the card. If there are enough credits to ride, a green light shows (on the scanner). If there aren’t enough, a red light will show. Same thing for food.”
50TH STATE FAIR
>> Where: Aloha Stadium
>> When: 6 p.m. to midnight Fridays, 4 p.m. to midnight Saturdays and noon to midnight Sundays from Friday through June 26
>> Cost: $5, free for keiki under 40 inches tall
>> Info: 682-5767, ekfernandezshows.com
>> Note: Specials on admission and rides will be offered; visit website for details.
Admission, rides, food and novelties are all covered by the Fun Pass, but cash will still be necessary for some types of midway games. Each credit is worth 10 cents, and new cards must be loaded with at least $6 in cash ($20 is the minimum charge accepted via credit cards). Every new Fun Pass issued is also subject to a $1 fee the first time it’s loaded with credits.
“There is a cost involved (to manufacture the card) that’s passed on to the consumer,” said Smith. “What’s nice about Fun Pass is if you have credits left and you’re ready to go home, that’s fine. Bring it back next time you come to the fair or any other E.K. Fernandez Shows event. The credits don’t expire.
“So we want to encourage everyone to keep their cards. They’re good forever, and you’ll never have to pay that $1 again.”
Also new at the fair in 2016 is thrill ride Equinox, a 36-ton behemoth that propels 24 people at a time to a height of 75 feet off the ground while simultaneously flipping, spinning and inverting them on three different axes. Riders are harnessed in without a cage, leaving arms and legs to flail wildly in the air.
Sounds fun, right?
“Our giant Ferris wheel is only 64 feet above the ground, so it brings a wow factor,” Smith said of Equinox, which E.K. Fernandez is renting from a mainland company. “We don’t currently have anything like that in our arsenal of rides.”
