An older article found on globeandmail.com, be sure to click the link. There are 8, 3 minute videos from the perspective of 8 workers.
The carnival workers of Conklin Supershows don’t see the big-city glam of the CNE or the PNE. From April to October, they travel small towns, setting up shopping mall midways and county fairs. It’s a fading way of life with few rewards. For many, photographer Charla Jones reports, it’s the only road they know.
Pops pays close attention as a group of teenaged boys unscrew the large bolts of the merry-go-round. “Some of these kids put extra grease on themselves to make it look like they’re working,” he says.
CarnivalWarehouse.com’s 7th Annual Carnival Photo Calendars go on sale. This year’s calendar features over 50 full color photos of carnival rides, midways, games, and concessions from across the United States. This 12 month wall calendar is professionally printed on high gloss stock and measures 11-1/2″ wide by 17″ tall. In addition to the spectacular photos, the calendar also features national holidays and industry events.
The carnival photo calendar has become a MCW tradition since the first calendar was published in 2003. This year, we collected hundreds of photos from MCW photographers across the country. Of the photos received, six photos were selected by MCW visitors to appear as feature photos in this year’s calendar.
The 2009 Calendars cost $16.50 and can be ordered online or by mail. For more information, please visit: www.calendars.carnivalwarehouse.com.
RALEIGH – Record attendance on the final day didn’t prevent the 2008 N.C. State Fair from falling below last year’s overall turnout.
Sunday’s attendance totaled 101,775, breaking the mark of 98,433 on the last day of the 2007 fair. But The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that this year’s total attendance of 765,067 was down about 11 percent below last year’s record of 858,611.
N.C. Department of Agriculture spokesman Brian Long said officials took note of the fact that advance sales for the fair were down. Long also said a combination of cool temperatures, a threat of rain and a struggling economy combined to keep attendance down.
I do apologize for the Adultfinder ad that pops up after hitting play(not my ads), But these are the best copies I can find. I personally hate forced ads and pop ups and normally wouldn’t allow them, but Carnivale series is a good watch.
I do apologize for the Adultfinder ad that pops up after hitting play, But these are the best copies I can find. I personally hate forced ads and pop ups and normally wouldn’t allow them, but the Carnivale series is a good watch, so I’ll deal with them.
“I see these guys all the time, basically a mobile fun-fair with the bicycle powering the ride….Indonesian inventiveness never stops amazing me!
It may not seem much of a ride to westerners, but, having seen the look on the kids faces when the funfair guy arrives, Indonesian kids love it.
These guys ride around all day, traversing the kampung’s looking for business from mothers who are stuck in the house all day.”
Workers or guests, people are the fair’s most compelling exhibit
By Martha Quillin, Staff Writer : Found Here
Of all that is on exhibit at the N.C. State Fair, the most dynamic display is the daily parade of people. Some have come to work, parking their motor homes on the edge of a city they will never get to know, working long hours to entertain people they will never see again. This fair is among the last stops for most of the full-time carnival workers, and, as the season winds down, some wear the miles on their faces.
The people who pay to pass through the gate are tired sometimes, too, but they have come into a sensory experience so intense it makes them forget everything else for a while. So many cottony-candy, oniony, popcorny, horsey smells, so many colors of lights, such a choir of voices, such a whoosh of freedom in the flight of the Ferris wheel.
It’s so American, the fair — the entrepreneurial spirit of the salesman, the ingenuity of the craftsman, the grit of the traveling life, the earnestness of the child who has raised a calf to a ribbon-winning beef cow only to watch it be sold and led away.
The faces of the fair are at the same time familiar and exotic, like a favorite candy bar dipped in batter and deep fried. It’s us, with extra sugar sprinkles.
