The American state fair. The place where dreams are possible! Neon-colored food booths with Wonka-worthy treats—chiffon clouds of cotton candy, saltwater taffy, butter-slathered popcorn. Bells and screams and whirling lights and $1 games of skill and chance. Step right up!
SEE OUR LIST OF 2020 State Fair Dates Across The South
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, the ice cream company known for making flavors so delicious they can transport you to another time and place, announced today a new feel-good collection inspired by this slice of Americana that will take you back to the summers of your childhood. And, because it’s Jeni’s, they created a virtual state fair experience on Instagram with midway-style games to go with it.
For the next month, Jeni’s will be releasing a flavor every Thursday in shops and online, starting today with Watermelon Taffy, a flavor that directors of actual state fairs across the country picked as their personal favorite.
After that comes Orange Blossom Chiffon (July 23), Atlantic Beach Pie (July 30), Sun-Popped Corn (Aug 6), and Wildberry Lavender (available now), though the full collection is available now at jenis.com/statefair.
“We love the energy, color, and flavor of a great state fair,” said Founder Jeni Britton Bauer. “From a flavor, art, and design standpoint, we asked ourselves, if we were to hold our own state fair, what would we want it to be? What would it look like? The answer is a Jeni’s-fied mix of our memories of summer, vibes from the midway, and our imagination, in a way that only we could do.”
The idea for the collection came before 2020, and because state fairs have since been canceled due to COVID-19, Jeni’s created its own virtual state fair on IG at @jenisstatefair. Explore the fairgrounds by tapping the photo tags—from boozy drink recipes at the Frosé Float to your new favorite summer playlist at the Brambleberry Bandstand—and play midway-style games with prizes throughout the month, including the chance to win a year’s worth of ice cream for you and a friend on National Ice Cream Day (July 19).
Like actual, non-imaginary state fairs during pre-COVID times, these flavors won’t be around forever—here today, gone tomorrow!—so print out the release dates and put them on your fridge. The flavors will be available at Jeni’s scoops shops (including through the company’s local delivery app), for shipping nationwide via jenis.com, and at indie grocery stores nationwide.
