After a five-year hiatus, the Bronx County Fair returned to New York City’s most northern borough last week. The event took place from May 7 through May 13 in Ferry Point Park in Throggs Neck.
Unlike typical county fairs, the Bronx County Fair didn’t feature bake-offs, arts and crafts, pie-eating contests or animals, but had its share of carnival rides like the fan-favorite Alien Abduction, a Ferris wheel overlooking the Whitestone Bridge and the Sea Ray, a spectacular giant swinging ship.
Spectators could try their luck and win prizes, playing a game of “WacAMole” or channel their inner Aaron Judge throwing some baseballs, breaking bottles. The fair also featured food staples like funnel cake, funnel cakes, zeppoles, fried Oreos and Italian sausages.
The Bronx Times caught up with mother-and-son teams Kiyana and Cameron and Brayden and Britni when they got off the Alien Abduction ride.
“I had fun,” Kiyana declared. “This is one of my favorite rides. So this was my first ride we got on.”
Pointing to her son, Kiyana said it was his first time on the giant spaceship, which spins and presses riders against the wall using centrifugal forces. Once the ride reaches top speeds, riders are slowly lifted off the ground until they are about two feet off the platform, creating a sensation of weightlessness.
“He screamed the whole time,” Kiyana said.
Cameron said he liked that the ride put pressure on him and felt as if he could float.
“I want to go on it again,” Cameron said.
Brayden joked that he “passed out.”
“The thing I liked about the ride was the music. At first, I was scared, [but] then when it was about to end, I was like, ‘Oh, this is fun,'” Brayden said.
Bronxite Shavon took her 5-year-old son to the fair. Shavon had been looking into taking her son to a fair for “some time” and learned about the Bronx County Fair through the Bronx News 12 Instagram page.
“It’s pretty crowded, a little unorganized,” Shavon shared. “But other than that, it’s fun so far. The kids are having a good time. So that’s all that matters.”
Edwin and Anna came from Portchester and loved that everyone was enjoying themselves.
“I just love to see people having a good time,” Anna said. “That’s just the best part of it.”
Ezort Stevens, Joshua Colon and Cat Cordero learned about the fair on Instagram and TikTok.
“It’s expensive,” Colon said.
The admission fee was $5 and tickets ranged from $2 per token or packages ranging from 20 tickets for $35 to 40 tickets for $65.
“It’s only cash. There’s only one ATM machine in the entire park. So it’s not really worth it. But we do it for the kids,” Cordero added.
