Images of the 2019 Big E Fair in West Springfield MA

Every September I look forward to photographing the Big E - New England's state fair and carnival. The Fair draws about one and a half million people over its seventeen-day run, and I race to capture as much of the action as I can.

The images below are just a sampling of things I captured over the run of the fair. Some of the images below have appeared on the Fair's social media, a few in newspaper and television media, while others are previously unpublished. You will see bigger-than life prints from some of these shots lining the walls when you come to the 2020 Fair. Look for my images at the entry gates and on the walls in our arenas.

Most of these photos were taken under natural light using Nikon D5 cameras with 80-400 and 28-70 lenses. A few photos were taken with a Leica M or a Fuji Xpro2. I am one of the official chroniclers of the Fair, which allows me access to places the public can't be. That makes it possible to get the close-ups you see below. With the exception of a few group photos, nothing here was posed; it was all shot live, unrehearsed, often in a performance I'd never seen before. Many of our big bands play one show only and there is no chance for me to rehearse what I will shoot.

After 25 years doing this, I am incredibly lucky that my pictures speak for me, and many performers welcome me to their stages in anticipation of a good result. These photos are all copyright (c) 2019 John Elder Robison, with all rights reserved.

Here are some shots of the AJR Brothers

Meanwhile up on the front stage . . . .

You can watch the people all day long . . . a never ending parade

As darkness fell, Skillet prepared to take the main stage

And off they went . . .

Here's my old friend Gene Cassidy, president of the Big E, with two of the stars of the Coliseum horse shows. Gene is the only guy on the grounds who always wears a suit.

The Big E Circus has shows at 1, 4 and 7 every day. Over the 17-day run of the fair the performers entertain over 50,000 fans, many of whom come every year.

We had Soltar, with wisdom of the ages; log rollers, and even a butter sculptor team

Mothers and daughters, monster trucks, and water gun fun

Fine foods and Irish whiskey

Ambrosia reprised their hits of the 80s

And the circus played on

Lettuce brought West Springfield some solid funk

Scott Stapp of Creed played some high energy rock and roll

Across the fairgrounds the 4H had a horse show:

Marylyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. packed the front concert tent singing hits from the 5th Dimension and new material

Naughty By Nature took one stage while Sugar Ray played the other. Both groups played to packed houses

Some people showed up hours early to grab the good seats

Three hours later everyone was on their feet

Back in the 60s The Who sang The place is really jumping . . . In the blackout they dance right into the aisle . . . as the doors fly open even the promoter smiles

Here are our promoters that night:

The next day was the Big E Collector Car Experience, which drew as big a crown as the concerts.We had some famous names on stage but the real stars were the cars . . .

Elsewhere on the grounds we had more cars, Sesame Street, and kids. Lots of kids

Readers of Look Me in the Eye may recall my time with Fat, a blues band from Ashfield, Massachusetts. Here were are at their show that night. What a cool thing, to be together again for a show 40 years later

As the fair went on we had Seraphina Violins, DJ Elyx, a finished butter sculpture, and sheep.

There are signs all over the grounds. I shudder to contemplate the alternative to "real" ice.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police drew a crowd to the Coliseum while Collective Soul filled the arena out back

lil TJAY arrived three hours late, but he still drew one of the biggest crowds of the fair. They just kept packing in . . .

Every day, and every night . . . rain or shine . . . there is action on the North American Midway

We had Carly Rae Jepsen and Mason Ramsey, a 13-year old YouTube star

We got a new ringmaster for the circus for the last days of the fair.

Artimus Pyle, the original Wild Man of Lynyrd Skynyrd played all the old music, and brought the lovely Seraphina Violins on stage for the second show . . .

Ned Niemic and his crew led the famous Hallamore Draft Horses every day. When it comes to horsemanship, with 50-plus years holding the reins, Ned is as good as they get.