Roaming Roanoke: Salem Fair Food Funday

October 16, 2020 | Angela Evans | Blog, Roaming Roanoke

This week’s Roaming Roanoke destination is an event – the Salem Fair Food Funday!

As everyone knows and experienced, many festivals and events were canceled this year due to the Covid pandemic. One large event in our area, the Salem Fair, was no exception. The Salem Fair is normally considered the largest fair in Virginia! It typically draws hundreds of thousands of visitors too! While the large gathering did not happen this year, some of the vendors made it to town last weekend and served up fair food! Salem Fall Fair Food Funday took place in the parking lot of the Salem Civic Center.

We actually have not been to the Salem Fair yet since we moved here. This year would have been our first Salem Fair (hopeful for next year now!). Even though there wasn’t a fair this year, we still got a taste (pun intended) of it!

We made it over to Fair Food Funday on Thursday, the first day it was open. This was a mother-daughter time for us. My husband was at work and our son was still at school. My two daughters and I went to the Salem Civic Center parking lot for lunch on Thursday. It did not disappoint! We had corn dogs, kettle corn, pizza, and lemonade! My four-year-old got the souvenir cup too! We got enough popcorn to bring home to share with the rest of the family. My four-year-old loved strawberry popcorn! We ate it all weekend!

Salem Fair Food Funday had about four booths but there was so much food available that we didn’t have enough time to eat it all. The blooming onions, ribbon fries, chicken on a stick, etc. all looked and smelled so good!

Even at lunch time, people lined up at the vendor booths to grab lunch or dessert (funnel cakes!!). Some people told us they go to the fair every year so this was a treat to get their favorite fair food on a fall weekday!

Organizers say they want to have more Fair Food Fundays in the future; however, nothing is scheduled yet. They are working on it. You can follow the Salem Fair Facebook page for information on any upcoming events!

While we didn’t get the full Salem Fair experience this year, we certainly felt like we got the best tastes of it!

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Angela Evans

Angela Evans is a former tv reporter turned stay-at-home mom. She and her husband Cody have three children. They moved to Virginia in 2018. When she’s not Roaming Roanoke, she is probably drinking sweet tea, reading a book or dancing.