The State of the Fair
As the Wilson County — Tennessee State Fair inches toward one million annual attendees, Pick Tennessee has become its crown jewel
Most of the year, the building resembling a barn at the Wilson County Fairgrounds remains idle. It lacks the evergreen panache of the sixty historical structures within the property’s Fiddlers Grove that replicate the smalltown Tennessee village of times long past.
But, for the last three summers, this unassuming structure has brought a taste of the state’s Grand Divisions to the area a few miles from Lebanon’s downtown. And it has ushered in a brand new era for the fair and Tennessee’s dynamic community of artisans and entrepreneurs who hope to celebrate the state’s food traditions.
Though Pick Tennessee Products has remained a fixture of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s plan to promote local farms and businesses for over three decades, the program has seen unprecedented growth since it began setting up its annual shop in Wilson County during what the fair’s marketing team has long deemed, “The Ten Best Days of the Year.”
Throughout the fair, visitors can stop by a fully stocked grocery store that puts Publix and Whole Foods’ local vendor endcaps to shame. From Oye Coffee to the Tennessee Spice Company and a host of smallbatch charcuterie fixings, any Tennesseean could fully stock their pantry with items made in their own backyards.
“Every product has a story, a family farm, a family recipe,” Terry Vaughan, who manages the Pick Tennessee store every year through Southern Business Group, said. “Something’s behind everything that we offer there, and that’s unique and different than anywhere else they can shop.”
From the moment it debuted during the 2023 fair, The Pick Tennessee Products Experience became one of the event’s most popular attractions–even though Vaughan marvels at how scant the offerings now seem in comparison to this year’s iteration. “Year one was 45 producers. Year two was 90 producers, and this year we’re 136,” Vaughan said. “We’re really excited about having 650 different products on the shelves.”
While the Wilson County — Tennessee State Fair draws visitors from all across the United States, it is the one event in Middle Tennessee that navigates the region’s exponential growth while remaining dedicated to some semblance of authenticity. Such explains why Governor Lee made revamping the State Fair a priority during his first term.
For decades, the Wilson County Fair enjoyed a reputation as the premiere destination during the dog days of summer, an event that catered to thrill seekers and those who desired to preserve the state’s agriculture traditions. As late as 2019, it routinely drew 500,000 visitors–nearly 500% the annual attendance of the state fair held in Nashville. Thanks to a $5.3 million budget allocation approved by the General Assembly, the Tennessee State Fair merged with Wilson County’s in 2021, a splashy post-pandemic debut that cemented its dominance.
“The history of the Wilson County Fair created a sense of synergy,” Vaughan said. “Right now, we’re ranked number three in the nation as a state fair. And the goal for everyone from the Wilson County Tennessee State Fair staff and volunteers and Board to people at Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Governor Lee himself, is to make this the number one fair in the country.”
With attendance last year inching past 800,000, The Wilson County — Tennessee State Fair has become a formidable economic force for the state’s small businesses. However, the migration of the event from downtown Nashville to a popular suburb in a county with a vocal rural presence is perhaps the most potent symbol that Middle Tennessee’s reputation as a magnet for business and coastal refugees cannot be contained by the capital city’s limits.
Like the more than 41,000 residents who have fled Nashville proper for areas like Lebanon since 2016, the fair has positively thrived since its move as it has cultivated a more laid back and less corporate approach to Tennessee’s culture that mirrors the state’s populist streak.
Although Pick Tennessee has its fair share of duck fat caramels and artisanal bread, it firmly believes that quality Tennessee products are not reserved for the farmers markets near the downtown corridor, and the organization has already been planning accordingly. In addition to smaller Pick Tennessee shops at events like Franklin’s Dickens of a Christmas, Vaughan and his team will soon have a consistent presence in communities all across the state.
“The hope is that we will take this on the road whether that’s pop-up stores within all three Grand Divisions, and the significant events across all of them or our dream of creating some type of mobile store that could actually go to all 95 counties,” Vaughan said. “We want to develop something that’s really special, take the theme and the spirit of the fair to someone and in their own hometown, and be able to let them have that experience.”
“The Year of Pork” edition of the fair runs through August 23rd. More information can be found on its website. A complete list of Pick Tennessee products and information about the program is available at https://www.picktnproducts.org/.