Experience Stage at The Great New York State Fair Features National Acts, Special Festivals, Tribute Bands and More

The 2018 Great New York State Fair’s second music stage is taking a big step up, offering even more great music and special performances to fairgoers attending this year’s Fair. The Experience Stage, located in the New York Experience festival grounds on the western end of the Fairgrounds, will feature more than 50 musical performances over the 13 days of the Fair.

“Just as we’ve invested a record amount in our Chevy Court stage, we’re also making a similar investment in our Experience Stage. We’ve been the biggest music festival in Upstate New York but we’re not resting on our reputation. We also want to find a way to introduce more fairgoers to the beautiful New York Experience area,” said Acting Fair Director Troy Waffner.

The Fair has previously announced performances by four national recording artists on the Experience Stage: Eddie Money, All Time Low, John Kay & Steppenwolf and Foghat. The rest of the lineup breaks into these areas:

• Special festivals: The stage will present a dozen performances during the three-day Latino Village Weekend, highlighted by the Friday, August 24 performance by Puerto Rican recording artists Grupo Karis and the Saturday August 25 interview of three Latino reality stars.  The following Saturday, August 1, the Syracuse JAMS FunkFest returns, with five performances capped by an appearance by funk recording artists The Zapp Band.
• Tribute bands: Several top regional and touring tribute bands will perform, including Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Band (Bob Seger tribute), Hard Promises: The Music of Tom Petty, Big Eyed Phish (Dave Matthews Band tribute), Thunderstruck (AC/DC tribute), Dark Hollow (Grateful Dead tribute) and Badfish (Sublime tribute).
• Top regional bands: Bands from around Upstate New York will perform, including Utica’s Gridley Paige, Herkimer’s Max Scialdone, Schenectady’s Blase DeBris, Albany duo Sirsy, Rochester’s MoChester and others.
• Special events:  The stage will be home to several special performances, such as the lineup of woman-led bands on Women’s Day at the Fair (My So-Called Band, Bad Mana’s Blues Band, the Jess Novak Band and Root Shock), the Armed Force Day concert from the 198th Army Reserve Band and the Rock The Redhouse Youth Rock Band Showcase on Tuesday, August 28.

 

The Experience Stage and Chevy Court stage are sponsored by Chevrolet.

The New York Experience festival ground on the western end of the Fairgrounds will also be the home of several special events, such as the two, Family Fishing Days in the pond and the Timber Sports and Forestry Experience Day, featuring demonstrations from collegiate timber sports teams. Each night at 9:30 p.m., events in the area end with a Drone Light Show, featuring 25 drones flying in patterns choreographed to music. Adirondack chairs offer fairgoers a quiet place to have a drink and take a break.

The New York State Fair, operated by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, runs from August 22 to September 3, 2018. The Fair's mission, reflected in its theme, "FIND YOUR GREAT," is to showcase the best of New York agriculture while providing top-quality entertainment.

The home of the Great New York State Fair is a 375-acre exhibit and entertainment complex that operates all year. A year-round schedule of events is available on the Fair’s website. Find The Great New York State Fair on Facebook, follow @NYSFair on Twitter, on Snapchat at nysfair and enjoy photos from the Fair at Flickr.com/photos/nysfair. Also, New Yorkers are invited to send their ideas for the Great New York State Fair at statefairideas@agriculture.ny.gov.

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Full schedule:

Wednesday, August 22:

4:00pm     DJ Joe Driscoll
5:30pm     The Barndogs
7:00pm     Eddie Money
9:00pm     Gridley Paige

Thursday, August 23:

2:45pm      Formerly Un-Named
4:00pm      Pale Green Stars
5:45pm      Scars & Stripes
8:00pm      All Time Low

Friday, August 24: LATINO VILLAGE WEEKEND (through Sunday, August 26)

2:00pm     David Gonzalez
4:00pm     Zaki Malave
6:00pm     Orquestra Antonetti
8:00pm     Grupo Karis

Saturday, August 25:

2:00pm     Afrikan 2
4:00pm     Bailamos
6:00pm     Latino Reality TV Stars
8:00pm     Alex Torres

Sunday, August 26:

2:00pm     Sabor Latino Youth Talent Show
4:00pm     El Potro Doney
6:00pm     Grupo Pagan
8:00pm     FULASO - "Funky Latin Soul"

Monday, August 27:

2:00pm     Max Scialdone
4:00pm     Blase Debris
6:00pm     Sirsy
8:00pm     John Kay & Steppenwolf

Tuesday, August 28:

12 noon    Rock The Redhouse Youth Rock Showcase
2:00pm     Fritz's Polka Band
4:00pm     Los Blancos
6:00pm     Pearly Baker's Best
8:00pm     Ruby Shooz

Wednesday, August 29:

2:00pm     My So-Called Band
4:00pm     Bad Mama Blues Band
6:00pm     Jess Novak Band
8:30pm     Root Shock

Thursday, August 30:

2:00pm     198th Army Reserve Band
4:00pm     Country Swagg
6:00pm     Ramblin' Gamblin' Band
8:00pm     Foghat

Friday, August 31:

2:00pm     TBA
4:00pm     TANKSLEY
6:00pm     The Ripcords
8:30pm     Hard Promises: The Music of Tom Petty

Saturday, September 1: JAMS FunkFest 2K18

2:00pm     Anomalous People Band
3:30pm     Ignite
5:00pm     Missy Belgre
6:30pm     The Blacklites
8:00pm     The Zapp Band

Sunday, September 2:

2:00pm     Twenty20
4:00pm     MoChester
6:00pm     Big Eyed Phish
8:30pm     Thunderstruck

Monday, September 3:

3:00pm     Ignite Reggae
4:30pm     Dark Hollow
7:00pm     Badfish