I took my British girlfriend to an American county fair

Time to head back to South Jersey for the county fair!

Thank you so much for watching! Hope you enjoyed it!

Video Chapters:
0:00 Hook & Intro
1:20 Animal Barn and Patriotism
3:29 Winning Vegetables and Crafts Tent
4:41 Go inside an American Prison Cell
6:20 Mutton Bustin
8:43 Bull-riding
9:43 What makes New Jersey so weird as a small state
10:33 Heather tries some county fair foods
12:21 Some live folk music
12:46 The Pig Scramble
15:00 Big American Lawn Mowers
15:47 The Tractor Pull
17:02 The Kiddie Tractor Pull
17:28 Real American Lemonade and Sweet Tea
18:08 Fireworks and Thoughts
18:41 Heather's highlights from the Salem County Fair
22:07 Bloopers

If you're new to my channel and videos, hi! I'm Evan Edinger, and I make weekly "comedy" videos every Sunday evening. As an American living in London I love noticing the funny differences between the cultures and one of my most popular video series is my British VS American one. I'm also known for making terrible puns so sorry in advance. Hope to see you around, and I'll see you next Sunday! :)

If you want to know HOW I make my videos including gear, lighting, all the tiddly bits that connect it all together, (with cheaper alternatives and kit I used to use), I've listed each item, what it's great at, and why I use it on the gear section of my website here:

Otherwise: here's a quick list of some of my kit without descriptions from the above link:

Camera: Sony A7siii

Main Lens: Sony 24mm f/1.4 G-Master

Secondary Lens: Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G-Master

Main Light: Aputure 120d mkii

Shotgun Microphone: Sennheiser MKH-416

Really useful SSD: SanDisk Extreme Portable 2TB

[punkrockzoologist]

Next episode, Heather takes Evan to Gloucester for the Cheese-Rolling.

[lynnhamps]

We do have County 'fairs' in the UK, usually called County Shows, as a kid I'd go to the one at the East of England Showground in Peterborough where i grew up. They'd have steam traction engines, tractors and giant shire horses. Sheep and sheep dog trials. Lots of other farming equipment and sometimes classic cars. There would be loads of food stalls selling hot dogs, jacket potatoes, fish and chips and at least two huge spit roasting pigs. No kids on sheep or chasing piglets though, we'd think that was a bit cruel... to the animals, not the kids...lol.

[annebolynzarsilve]

One of my favorite County fair memories was about 5 years ago now.

They had a pen set up to show off sheep herding.

Due to a scheduling mix-up, this couple didn't have their collie with them at the pen.

They DID have their eight year old son with them.

He did a great job! Everyone cheered him on while he herded sheep. Kid had a LOT of energy.

[carolineskipper]

Most UK Counties have a County Fair of some kind, which includes a lot of what was seen here.
The exceptions are the 'rodeo' type events and the pig chasing. We do see piglet racing in some places - but not being chased by humans. It would be seen as as being against animal welfare.
The other exception is the whole prayer and national anthem SO American.

[Dan-isqk]

I love watching evan being American. It's so surreal

[davidwhite]

Tractor pulling is definitely a thing in the UK. I watched it this year at my local county show. English county shows are very similar to this American fair only there's definitely no Rodeo, fewer cowboy hats and with some more British things such as competitive sheep shearing and lots of local cheese stalls.

[JoeBleasdaleReal]

As a Brit, I can’t count the number of times I muttered “oh, fuck off” to myself during this video. Props to Heather for keeping a straight face the whole time 😂😂😂

[RNS_Aurelius]

Child pageants are one of those things I hear about and think "how is that still legal?"

[coasttocoast]

Aussie here, none of this was really surprising to me because we have agriculture shows here. We have chicken judging and horse riders doing barrel racing as well as the rodeo. I don’t think my show has mutton busting but I think other shows in Australia might

There’s rides and a sideshow alley too with market stalls and show bags. My favourite part as a kid was always the show bag

[tedioustotoro]

As someone who’s gone to British county shows a lot as a kid, the smoke from the tractor pull seems tame compared to some of the traction engines I’ve seen rolling around the shows

[triscuitbiscuit]

Heather- it is even uncharted territory for people who grew up in the north half of the state. NJ is such an insanely small state but cultures can be night and day different.

[jackwalker]

Agricultural shows are definitely a thing in the UK. The Bath & West Show and the Royal Welsh Show are some of the better known ones, though most rural counties will have their own. They have tractor pulls too.

[davidhamm]

Deep fried Oreos? Sounds like something you’d get at Glasgow fair. 😂

[Denis-ezgd]

When I see "my British girlfriend", I always think that there is another AMERICAN girlfriend

[TheEulerID]

As Heather is a Buckinghamshire girl, then maybe take a trip the Bucks County Show to see the British equivalent.

Also, the smoke is part of the atmosphere. Literally true of course...

nb. there is a UK tractor pulling championship, but I don't think it happens at country fairs. There are also traction engine pulls, but again not, I think, at county fairs. Those are at steam fairs, which I tend to think are quintessentially British, but I could be wrong. They do generate a lots of smoke too.

[BlackCatBritt]

upstate NYer here. Most of the county fairs I've been to have a demolition derby after the tractor pull, and a lumberjack competition happening throughout the day. Fascinating stuff lol

[really-quite-exhausted]

My only knowledge of US county fairs comes from reading Charlotte's Web multiple times as a kid, so I only really thought about the "best looking animal" competition that Wilbur is in. With all the other activities and spectator events this looks like such a fun day out!!

[jmas]

Funnel cake is dependent on who is making it, the batter that is used, and the method of cooking. Good funnel cake is made with two different pots of oil at two different temperatures to make sure it is cooked evenly throughout. If you ever take Heather to Dollywood, they make them right. Also, get the apple cobbler added on top, because it's divine.

[njm]

I enjoyed your county fair. We have them in the Midlands too, in the Uk, but we only ride horses.
Lots of animal judging, cakes and crafts, tractors, dog agility, displays, food. They are great fun.
Villages put on their own smaller versions.
We have Wakes Fairs in the towns, which are huge fun fairs that visit for three or four days and set up through the streets.
I lived for years in a London suburb and had no idea this went on.

[ColdClock]

I'm British and I got taken to the local police station as part of the scouts to show us around the place, including the cells. It wasn't to scare us straight but it did have the opposite intended effect on us children as we were told the prisoners got McDonald's on Fridays.