Several odd new attractions have joined the New Jersey State Fair in the Meadowlands, including the “Wall of Death,” the Great American Frontier Show, and even a pig knuckle-eating contest. The fair runs through Sunday, July 8.
The fair, held each year at the Giants Stadium Fairgrounds in East Rutherford, boasts 300 shows, 150 rides and attractions, and 100 food stands. It opens at 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Walls and Globes of Death
A popular feature at this year’s fair are the two motorcycle shows that run each day.
For one show, motorcyclists drive around a vertical cylinder called the “Wall of Death” because it is perpendicular to the ground.
The other show, the “Fearless Flores,” features a family of stunt cyclists.
Spectators for the Wall of Death are actually on top of the cylinder (or “motordrome”), looking down at the riders.
“There’s only three [motordromes] left in the country,” said Wally Walker, a motordrome rider since the 1980s. “I happened to know a person that used to ride and was going back out on the road. They happened to need some help, so I tagged along.”
Along with riding bikes around the track, they performers also use racing go-carts.
“It’s a true adrenalin rush,” Walker laughed.
The Flores family travels all across the continent and beyond to put on their cycling show.
Ricardo Flores said that his family boasts nine generations of circus performers.
“I literally just got here,” said Flores.
Flores is already teaching his 9-year-old daughter the tricks of the trade, and she is already capable of riding inside the Globe of Death, a metal orb in which riders drive up, down, and all around.
After a performance, Flores said that he was revitalized. “You can hear the New Jersey attitude going on out in the seats,” he said. “They’re not afraid to get up out of their seats. I can feel the enthusiasm in the crowd.”
Animals and shows from the wild West
Another attraction that has just made its way to NJ Fairgrounds for the first time is the Great American Frontier Show, which includes animal performances.
Michael Sandlofer, co-founder of the show along with wife Sharon, have devoted their lives to providing a family-friendly show, and also protecting animals. During the show, they educate the public on environmentally friendly and humane ways to co-exist with these creatures.
Despite his Western gear, Sandlofer is originally from Brooklyn. He spent a great deal of time in the West before starting the show.
The Wild Frontier Show itself creates an experience of the great outdoors. With a campfire in the middle of the grounds, there are two animal shows, one for farm animals such as oxen and horses, and the other including wolves and a cougar.
Children can also pet some horses and a bison as well as see an 8-foot tall ox.
One of the more educational sites in the fair, the Wild Frontier show even includes its own museum. With artifacts close to 200 years old, the museum hosts traps, saddles, skins and other pieces of American frontier treasures.
The Sandlofer family, including 12-year-old Benna, are all performers in the show. They are also conservationists, and in 1989 the Sandlofers saved their first wild mustang.
“We want people to know that there are still wild animals out there,” Sandlofer said.
Eating Competition
One of the highlights of the fair that has already taken place was the first documented pig-feet-and-knuckle eating competition.
Not only are those two animal parts difficult to eat, but they are difficult to measure. In hot dog eating competitions, a hot dog is considered eaten when both bun and dog are swallowed, but with pig knuckles and feet, there are tendons, bones, and also hard to reach places inside of both.
“It started with chicken wing eating contests,” said Ryan Nerz, media manager for Major League Eating which hosted the tournament.
Since there really is no way to look at the feet and knuckles and declare a winner, Major League Eating, the sponsor of the competition, had to find another way of measuring.
“We created these big vats; they’re more of a tray, and you weigh the tray beforehand and afterwards,” said Nerz. Jersey City resident Arturo Rios won the competition in an upset over several out-of-town competitive eaters with a whopping 2.89 pounds of feet. He beat the second-place nosher by over a pound.
For more information on the fair, click on www.njfair.com.