American Idol Stars

The 2008 Spotlight Tribute will include American Idol Stars David Cook and David Archuleta. The current limited edition of Spotlight Tribute, available exclusively at www.SpotlightTribute.com, includes former American Idol Stars Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, and Chris Daughtry. It also includes Hannah Montana Star Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Johnny Depp, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and many more.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 19, 2008 -- The 2008 Spotlight Tribute will include American Idol Stars David Cook and David Archuleta. ''Both David Cook and David Archuleta have gained a tremendous amount of fans due to their great performances during American Idol. Because of this, they will both be included among the stars in the upcoming 2008 Spotlight Tribute,'' said Spotlight Tribute President, Steven Banas. Spotlight Tribute is a celebrity tribute that the whole family can enjoy and appreciate. The current limited edition of Spotlight Tribute, available exclusively at www.SpotlightTribute.com, includes former American Idol Stars Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, and Chris Daughtry. It also includes Hannah Montana Star Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Johnny Depp, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and many more. In all, the current Spotlight Tribute features 72 elegant tribute photo cards of the world's biggest stars along with 288 very interesting and fun trivia questions.

Pre-Fair Podcasts

Countyfairgrounds, USA or countyfairgrounds.net is actively seeking fairs and fairground events who would like free advertising exposure in the form of national and state specific podcasts. We do podcasts of 15 minutes over the phone. The podcasts are recorded, downloaded ad put through a sound editor. They are then uploaded to our national RSS feed which is a national feed and available on I-Pods. This is a free service. Podcasts are typically done with fair managers or public relations people about three to four weeks out from an event. Questions of the podcast cover items like: the history of the event, age of event, activities of event, what is new and exciting at the event this year, what makes it cost effective for families, what is there for children to do, what is there for the seniors, what is there for the teenagers, do you have exhibit building and what is in them, how many food vendors and types of food., special events at the fair, grandstand entertainment, strolling entertainment...carnival specials and information, any special program you have involving the community in your event. The podcasts are being done to help you with having absolutely free exposure for your event. Please e-mail Karen at karen@countyfairgrounds.net to schedule your pre event podcast.

Green Village, Alameda County Fair

I would like to applaud the Alameda County Fair for the following that was sent to me today. It shows innovation and progress and concern on their part to our environment and the fairgrounds future as a whole. One of the problems with some of our county fairs these days is their lack of ability to change and grow with the times. That is certainly not true of this fair. I for one say congratulations, and RAH to them - lets see some more of this from some of our other fairs.

Highlighting this year’s Fair will be a Living Green Program featuring a Living Green Village for the opening weekend (June 20-22). The general program will focus on our planet and how we can reduce waste, pollution and restore elements to enrich our lives as well as the environment. The program will include informational displays, exhibits and live programming. The Living Green Village will encompass a large area of the Fairgrounds and will consist of "Green" vendors, educational exhibits focusing on composting, recycling and green energy projects worldwide, and children's activities among others.

The Alameda County Fair is dedicated to the philosophy of recycling materials for the mutual goal of conservation and cost reduction while continuing to maintain the beauty of our landscaped grounds. Included in our year round Conservation and Recycling Program are:

• Reforestation
• Composting
• Cardboard recycling
• Paper recycling
• Water recycling
• Scrap metal recycling
• Glass and plastic bottle recycling
• Straw and manure recycling
• Asphalt recycling
• Solar Energy

Additionally, the Fair Association is extremely proud to be the largest non-profit generator of solar energy in the United States generating roughly one megawatt of electricity – enough to power nearly 1,000 homes.

Update on our Nationwide Events Listing Page

Hello, a little while ago, posted information on our nationwide events page. Well, I am plugging away on it step by step. Realistically, its going to take awhile to get all the listings in it we need. However, many states are in real good shape and the information is wonderful. AZ, ID, WY, MT, KS, MO, OK, NE, CO, KY, PA, MI, MA, MD, VT, ME, and most of TN are in this database... there are a smattering of other states as well. I am going to start NM next.
You can pull up in this calendar, shows chronologically for all the above states, shows by say all the Adams Counties in the country, shows by the particular state, shows by a date range.... like say May 1-May 31, all the shows for one state.
I am working on this but some of these states have a lot of events to post, I am not only posting county fairs and activities at these fairgrounds, but rodeos, country type events, and large events throughout the country - step by step, by step. Go look.

Fare from the fair

By KATHRYN REM
FOOD EDITOR

Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Pat Nelson has been entering culinary contests at the Illinois State Fair for years, and she’s won a lot of prizes. Not long ago, she earned an unexpected premium when a free copy of a cookbook featuring one of her winning state-fair recipes arrived at her home in the Fulton County town of Vermont.

“It was quite a surprise. I’m so proud to be featured in the book,” said the retired fraternity-house cook about her inclusion in “Blue Ribbon Recipes: 693 Award-Winners from America’s State and County Fairs” (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2007, $19.95), edited by Barbara Greenman.

Events Listing Nationwide

Hi, I am really excited, we have finally managed to do it. We have integrated our database so that you can see events nationwide by state, county, and/or a certain month, or a month with a range of days. You can also put in the name of a event and/or a county and it will pull up all the county listings in the nation with that name. The page has only been functional for a few days. It was believe me a LOT of work. Not all states are yet in it yet, ones that are complete are CO, MO, KS, PA, KY, MT, ME, AZ, MD, ID, WY, MI and TN and MA and WY have some listings but I am working on putting in more as we speak. There are a smattering of some of the other states in there also. Eventually they will all be in there. So, What is the listing.... well, state, event name, age of event, description of event, description of grandstand, ticket price and information, admission charges, location, directions to the event, pre fair podcast link, hours of event, phone number, general e-mail, website address, and to come will be fields for demolition derby cost and date, beauty pageant cost and date, moto cross cost and date, rodeo cost and date, mud bog cost and date.... There is nothing else anywhere like this. It was a lot of lot of work. I hope you enjoy it.... Oh, if you run across a double listing or other error in the database please please give me a holler.... there are a lot of events here...

Concert Industry Is Banking on a Festive Summer

By JEFF LEEDS

Published: April 11, 2008

LOS ANGELES — Rock fans across the country who can brave the heat will have ample opportunities to see acts like Jack Johnson, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and the Raconteurs take the stage in an array of unconventional settings as part of the concert industry’s increasing wager on summer music festivals.

Faced with an audience that has been atomized by the dizzying music choices available online, concert promoters are straining to book diverse shows in whatever open space is available, be it a ranch in Michigan, a soccer field in Colorado or a racetrack in Maryland.

In a slumping music business such events pack a box office punch: the top five American festivals generated a combined $60 million in ticket sales last year, according to Billboard magazine’s estimates.

Karen's note: along with the economy and rising gas prices..... and all our woes.... America doesn't want to give up the concerts. I sometimes wonder if some of the performers realize what a help they are to us all. Concerts are wonderful, but I have began to realize how much some of these performers charge to appear.... its outlandish.... comments???