The Michigan State Fairgrounds is host to the annual Michigan State Fair as well as a wide variety of events throughout the year.
The fairgrounds includes exhibit buildings and a multi-purpose coliseum.
The Nation's Oldest State Fair was officially first held in 1849, only 12 years after Michigan attained statehood. At the onset it was customary, in fact, for the fair to be held one year in one city, the next year in another, and there was always a hot contest to be the city selected. The Michigan State Fair settled down at the present fairgrounds in 1905.
The role of the Fair in abetting the agricultural development of the State is significant, to say the least. The Fair has provided a forum for agriculture interest since the very beginning of farming in Michigan; it was a source of inspiration for farmers to improve the quality of their product, and it has always been a valued recreational outlet for the farming community. Particularly significant has been the inspiration and incentive it has provided for young people from farms to continue the farming way of life. It is impossible to say how many farmers or farmers' children have been inspired to do a better job, or use improved methods or machinery as a result of visiting the Fair, but they must be legion. It has endured as an institution in Michigan agriculture because it has served an important purpose and played an interesting and useful role for more than one-and-a-half centuries.
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