Big E officials excited as countdown continues toward 2023 fair

WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - We are officially starting our countdown to the 2023 Big E fair and as we are approximately 100 days away from the start of this annual event, we are getting a preview of what we can already expect this time around.

“We’re very excited. We’ve got a lot going on. We’ve got some of our talent already announced,” said Gene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition.

The countdown is on and the eagerness is building all across western Massachusetts and New England. After a successful crowd at last year’s Big E, the only multistate fair in the country, Cassidy told Western Mass News he expects bigger numbers.

“Last year was our second biggest attended fair in the history of the Eastern States. If that’s a trend, then we’d expect this year, God willing with weather, that we would exceed last year’s attendance,” Cassidy noted.

From delicious foods like cinnamon buns and baked potatoes, to vendors and rides, there will be something for everybody. Cassidy is assuring there will be some new things for people to see and eat at the 2023 fair. It will also be the first time since The Big E’s return in 2021 in which there will not be a global health emergency regarding COVID-19.

“People will always have some hesitation in the back of their minds, but, at this stage, we’re back to normal as a society and we’re looking forward to this fair now two years past the pandemic,” Cassidy noted.

So far, five of The Big E’s headline performances have been announced. They include Parker McCollum, Quinn XCII, Chris Young, Third Eye Blind, and for teenage and young adult music lovers, a German DJ who has collaborated with artists like Alessia Cara and Selena Gomez. That’s right: Zedd is coming to West Springfield.

“He’ll be interesting. It’s a different genre of music. People often think of, at the fair, country music or some great rock. Zedd is new,” Cassidy explained.

Cassidy told us he wants everyone across New England and the rest of the country to stop by and feel the thrill of this spectacle. He also hopes one of the event’s main goals is fulfilled: for people to wipe away any negativity and have a great time.

“I’m most proud of the way the Eastern States Exposition brings people together, especially at a time when society is so, sort of, torn apart,” Cassidy said.

The big entertainment drop will be revealed on Tuesday, while the hope is for everything else to be announced before August 1. The Big E is set to begin on September 15.

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