Overview The New Jersey State Fair is the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show under a second name: a nine-day agricultural fair in Augusta that runs a horse show, six barns of livestock and a Demolition Derby on the same grounds, and it takes no money from government sources. Admission, sponsorship and building rentals pay for the fair and the fairgrounds. The nonprofit Sussex County Farm and Horse Show Association owns and manages the grounds, with volunteer directors running divisions such as 4-H, agriculture, the horse show and creative arts. On site A grandstand in the Outdoor Entertainment Area runs a headline event most nights; in 2026 that meant pro wrestling, bull riding and barrel racing, a woodsman competition, the Demolition Derby, monster trucks and truck and tractor pulls. The Family Entertainment Area turns over all day with hot dog pig racing, a circus featuring members of the Wallenda family, foam parties and a petting zoo. By the carnival, the Performing Arts Tent carries free music, a Battle of the Bands and the Queen of the Fair Pageant. The agriculture area holds heritage breeds, a milking parlor, the Snook Agricultural Museum, an antique engine shed and the flower and vegetable show in the Conservatory. Audience Much of the crowd competes. Almost 60 Sussex County 4-H clubs show projects in the Shotwell 4-H Building and tend their animals in the barns, riders bring horses and campers for the USEF hunter-jumper show and a Western weekend, and New Jersey residents compete in baking, canning, chili and quilting. The tent program sets aside a Children's Day and a Senior Day. Track record Branchville businessmen held a three-day horse show in 1919, and the Sussex County Horse Show began at Ross's Corner in Augusta in 1924. The association incorporated as a nonprofit in 1940, bought a 126-acre site in Augusta in 1963 and dedicated the new fairgrounds in 1976. The New Jersey State Fair name was added in 1999. Outside fair week more than 40 local nonprofits hold fundraisers on the grounds at half the usual rental rate. Brand presence The association is a 501(c)(3), and sponsor money underwrites the grounds and the fair's events. Sponsorship is sold at Diamond, Platinum and Gold levels, and single spaces on the grounds carry partner names: in 2026 the Performing Arts Tent was named for Planet Networks, WNNJ iHeartRadio presented the Battle of the Bands, and the Frankford Township Clean Communities Program sponsored Children's Day.