From October through mid-December, the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes runs a full calendar. The cheapest part of it is the part the Fair is built on. Horse shows in the Toyota Coliseum, a poultry show in the Poultry Building and an alpaca show in the Horticulture Building all list free admission this fall. The events with a ticket price are mostly hobby shows, holiday markets and touring spectacles. Parking is free for nearly all non-Fair events unless an event's listing says otherwise, so the free livestock weekends cost nothing to attend.
That shapes how a household in Solvay, Westvale or Lakeland can plan October and November. Below is the calendar grouped the way the Fairgrounds uses it, by building and by price.
October belongs to the Coliseum and the barns
The fall season opens with livestock. The Trick or Trot Horse Show runs October 9 through 11 in the Toyota Coliseum with free admission. Three days later, the CNY Reining Horse Association Fall Classic & NEBT Futurity moves into the same arena for a five-day run, October 14 through 18, also free. Between them, the Coliseum hosts horses on eight of the ten days from October 9 through October 18.
The barns stay busy too. The Yankee Fall Classic Poultry Show fills the Poultry Building on Sunday, October 11, and the Showtacular Alpaca Show takes over the Horticulture Building on October 24 and 25.
| Event | Dates | Building | Hours | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trick or Trot Horse Show | Oct. 9–11 | Toyota Coliseum | Fri 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–4 p.m. | Free |
| Yankee Fall Classic Poultry Show | Sun., Oct. 11 | Poultry Building | 9 a.m.–4 p.m. | Free |
| CNY Reining Horse Association Fall Classic & NEBT Futurity | Oct. 14–18 | Toyota Coliseum | Wed–Sat 8 a.m.–8 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–5 p.m. | Free |
| Showtacular Alpaca Show | Oct. 24–25 | Horticulture Building | Sat 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun 8 a.m.–3 p.m. | Free |
The long hours matter for anyone who lives a few minutes away. A horse show running until 8 p.m. on a Saturday can fit around a soccer game or an errand run. A show at the Fair usually takes up the whole day.
The ticketed events are hobbies and spectacle
The paid side of the calendar looks different. Pokefest, the Pokémon trading and collecting show, fills the C&S Companies Science & Industry Building on Sunday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adults pay $5 in cash, children 12 and under get in free, and early entry at 9:30 a.m. costs $20. Toyfest Toy & Comic Book Show uses the same building on Saturday, October 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The bigger productions come later in the fall:
- Jurassic Quest, Oct. 23–25, Micron Center of Progress. Fri 1–8 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–6 p.m., Sun 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Ticket prices are posted on the organizer's site.
- Halloween R&B Party, Sat., Oct. 31, 6–11 p.m., The Empire Room. General admission $55.
- Renegade Monster Truck Show, Nov. 6–7, Toyota Coliseum. Shows Fri 7–8:30 p.m. and Sat 12:30–2 p.m. and 6–7:30 p.m. Prices vary.
- The Great New York State Model Train Fair, Nov. 14–15, Exposition Center. Adults $16, children 15 and under free. Sat 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
- NYS Indoor Kart Racing Championship, Sat., Dec. 5, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Micron Center of Progress. Spectator all-access pass $30, children under 5 free.
The Toyota Coliseum hosts free horse shows in October and then a ticketed monster truck show in early November. The same arena simply changes what it charges for.
The agricultural side has one paid event. The American Dairy XPO in the Exposition Center on November 4 and 5 charges $10 for one day, $18 for two, or $36 for a family pack, and children 12 and under get in free. It is a trade-style expo, unlike the open-barn format of the October shows.
Free admission makes it easy to pair events
Free parking and free barns change the math on a Fairgrounds weekend. Visiting two events on the same day costs no more than visiting one. A few dates on this fall's calendar line up well for that.
Sunday, October 11. The Trick or Trot Horse Show's last day runs until 4 p.m. in the Coliseum. The poultry show runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Poultry Building, and Pokefest runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Science & Industry Building. For a family with a young collector, the whole day costs one $5 adult ticket in cash, since kids 12 and under get in free.
Saturday, October 17. Toyfest overlaps with the fourth day of the reining horse Fall Classic, which runs until 8 p.m. that evening.
Saturday, October 24. The alpacas are in the Horticulture Building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Jurassic Quest is running in the Micron Center of Progress.
Saturday, December 5. The Collectors Mega Show in the Horticulture Building runs 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at $5 for adults, with kids 12 and under free and early-buyer entry at $20. The kart championship runs all day in the Micron Center of Progress.
November turns the Horticulture Building into a shopping hall
After the alpacas leave in late October, the Horticulture Building spends most of the next seven weeks as a market hall. Its schedule after October 25 reads like a holiday shopping season:
- Junior League of Syracuse's 31st Annual Holiday Shoppes, Nov. 13–15
- Salt City Holiday Antiques Show, Nov. 21–22, with 100 exhibitors
- CNY Wine & Chocolate Festival, Sat., Nov. 28, in two sessions, 1–4 p.m. and 5–8 p.m.
- Collectors Mega Show, Sat., Dec. 5
- Christmas Craft & Holiday Market, Dec. 11–13
Holiday Shoppes has the most changes this year. General admission is $10. New for 2026 are a family pack of four general admission tickets for $35 and a $25 Friday ticket that includes shopping from 10 to 11 a.m., an hour before general admission opens, plus a commemorative gift and shopping bag. Veterans and children 12 and under get in free. Hours are Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. after early admission, Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Santa is confirmed to return. The event is also continuing its food drive for the Food Bank of Central New York, and visitors who buy tickets at the door can get a discount by bringing an eligible food donation.
Holiday Shoppes falls on the same weekend as the Model Train Fair, November 14 and 15, which is in the Exposition Center. One trip and one free parking spot can cover a holiday gift list and the train layouts.
As of early October, the Wine & Chocolate Festival lists its admission as TBA. Check the listing again closer to Thanksgiving weekend.
The veterans' Saturday
One November event doesn't fit the barn, hobby or holiday groups. The CNY Veterans Parade & Expo on Saturday, November 7, runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free. The parade starts at noon, and the Expo is in the Center of Progress. It falls on the same day as the Saturday monster truck shows in the Coliseum, so expect more traffic than on a typical November Saturday.
Parking outside Fair time
The parking lot map most people know from August mostly doesn't apply now. The Fairgrounds says that outside the Fair, the lots in use are the Orange, Brown, Pink and Gray lots, plus open areas on the grounds. Parking is free for nearly all non-Fair events unless an event's details say otherwise. The venue's own guidance also notes that promoters can choose to charge for parking, so the event listing has the final word.
A few details help when you're arriving from Solvay or Westvale:
- Orange Lot: has its own exit straight onto I-690.
- Brown Lot: across State Fair Boulevard, north of the grounds.
- Gray Lot: entered through Gates 6 and 7, with walk-in access to the grounds through Gates 9, 10 and 11.
The Fairgrounds doesn't name one public entrance for every non-Fair event, so it's worth checking the specific event page before you leave. Event pages can also change hours or prices, and the Fairgrounds directory currently lists 67 events, more than this post covers.
For anyone in Geddes, the free October shows are the best value on this calendar. The horse, poultry and alpaca weekends all fall between October 9 and October 25.
If one of these weekends gets you thinking about how close you'd like to live to the Fairgrounds, or what a move within Geddes might look like, Lori Harrington knows this side of Onondaga County and is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.
