Exploring The Big E: Vast Wasteland Of Infomercials, Manure Fumes, Fried Dough, Gluttony, And Beautiful People Wearing Spectacular Outfits
The only good part about COVID is that it’s quite likely the Big E will be cancelled this year. My wife likes the Big E in West Springfield and I hate it. But I’ve agreed to go before if I could document and blog about my experience, which I did in 2017.
Believe it or not there are actually hundreds of thousands of people who don’t just like the Big E, they LIVE for the Big E. They circle it on their calendars and count down the days. And this is what happens when you get off the highway and enter West Springfield as a result.
So being wicked smart we rerouted and tried to sneak in from the backway. Apparently we were not the only morons who thought of this.
After sitting on your ass listening to crying kids in the backseat for 20 minutes you slowly see signs of the Big E. And by that I mean people turning their businesses into for profit parking lots.
Luckily the boobs that flood this place follow directions and cooperate with the police officers who got stuck on traffic duty.
Just kidding. No one listens to anything and the cop trying to tell these morons where to go is forced to throw her hands up in the air in frustration.
As in, “I give up.”
Only a rookie would pay $20 to park that far away too. You have to go to the side streets closer to the entrance. And when you do you see this:
Yup, gonna be one of those days. That guy right there lives for the Big E.
Of course everyone who bought a house in northern Agawam or southern West Springfield did so specifically so they could turn their lawns into parking lots and fleece morons like me into forking over their money.
But they only charge $10, so you have to go with them. Who do you pick? Whoever has the biggest flag. And this lady was today’s winner.
She was very nice and I hope she has a great day. But I guarantee when these people buy their homes the fact that three weeks every year their neighborhood turns into a money pit is something any good realtor would use as a reason to jack up the price of the home.
Finally it was time to experience the cesspool that is the Big E. It costs $15 to get in. And for that you get…….nothing. Literally nothing. Except for the ability to spend more money on stuff you don’t want. The first thing you see when you walk in of course is fried dough.
If fried dough is a regular Tuesday night meal in your house, as it is for at least 50% of the people who enjoy going to the Big E, then you’ll be right at home there. Because fried dough is literally everywhere you look.
Not just fried dough either. Generally anything that you want to stuff your gullet with if you don’t intend to live past the age of 55 is readily available. Like funnel cakes.
Fried oreos.
Fried snickers, and other things that already taste delicious and don’t need to be deep fried.
Fuck it. Deep fry it anyway just because.
You can also get Idaho Nachos.
Because when I think of Idaho, the first thing that comes to mind is “nachos.”
The Big E is way more fun when it’s a million degrees out like it was yesterday. Because there’s nothing you want to do more with your Saturday then aimlessly walk around in a sweaty mess of humanity that’s having the time of their life eating funnel cakes.
And if you think there’s a lot of able-bodied people who despise exercise and ride around in those Walmartmobiles at Disney, wait until you see the Big E. These people are everywhere.
And they always expect you to get out of their way in order to accommodate their laziness.
Some of these models of fitness have even hitched wagons to their hot rides
And the outfits are spectacular. When heading to the Big E it’s sometimes hard to figure out what to wear. Do I go with the “Because Roadkill” shirt?
The wicked pissah shirt?
The barefooted hippie with cut off jorts look?
Because it’s not like you could pick up any kind of diseases walking around barefoot at the Big E.
Others prefer the loafers with socks look.
Combat boots.
The purple gypsy pants ensemble.
The “failure is always an option” shirt.
Whatever this is supposed to be.
The “I’m a hardo and I’ll totally kick your ass if you exercise your First Amendment rights” shirt
What?
The grundle grabbing green monster outfit
The “I’m white, but I’m one of the good ones” shirt
The pizza dress moomoo with matching Jordan’s
The megajorts.
The titties and beer shirt.
The “I’m hungry and the only thing that will fix it is more fried dough” shirt.
And many more.
There’s a lot of stuff for sale at the Big E that you could really use too. I’m talking the essentials, like stickers and signs
Cell phone accessories you don’t need
“Designer” sunglasses for $10 that some guy bought at Walmart and put an Oakley’s sticker on
Dog food
Honey bee miracle cream
Gigantic hot tub tents
Beds
Recliners
Glue
Who wouldn’t want to spend their Saturday watching a demonstration about glue?
Ice scrapers
Knives
And if that’s not good enough for you, adventure knives
Nail fungus eliminator
Which is more than likely a best seller, considering the high volume of people wandering around that quite likely list nail fungus as one of their biggest issues.
Aqua cannons
Mud something
Mops
Complete with demonstrations about how to use mops
Bootleg gold chains
More hot tubs
Beef jerkey
Vacuums
Bath filters
Toe rings
Skinny wallets
Big belly banks
Possibly stolen hotel sheets
Psychic palm readings
People who “make your hand”
Because that’s a thing a normal person would want in their house. A lifesize recreation of their hand.
What else do you get for your $15 entry fee? The right to pay $5 to have your picture taken in a big ass chair
The right to look at a small horse
If you’re hard of hearing then the Big E has you covered, as most of these gypsy peddlers have attached microphones to their faces and use them all the time, even if they are speaking to only 1 or 2 people who are directly in front of them.
After you’ve had your fill of microphoned strangers trying to sell you things you don’t need it’s time to head to the next exhibition. Along the way you will run into grizzled men who walk with lit cigarettes in their mouth without using any hands.
And the world famous Big E marching band.
Then you’ll end up at the agriculture building. Because there’s nothing more that I want to do on a beautiful Saturday in September than inhaling cow poop fumes. Once you’re inside you can do wicked fun things, like stare at overcrowded sheep pens
Say hello to the KKK sheep
And the sad green sheep
Let me tell you, the crowd goes wild during the cow show in there, so get to your seat early.
If you have enough time you can wander over to the main event, where nice girls from rural Connecticut parade their sheep in circles while wearing all wool outfits they made on a 90 degree day.
While an old guy in a cowboy hat narrates about the kind of wool they’re wearing.
Don’t forget to hit up the New England state houses, so you can walk in a circle with a thousand other people and look at bunch of stuff from Vermont and Rhode Island that you have no intention of buying.
Finally, you can head over to the coliseum and watch rich girls jump over fences with their horses while judgmental old women deduct points.
It’s a real blast. Try to tell me these guys aren’t having the time of their life.
You can’t.
So if you like to pay $15 to get in, and then another $10-20 for parking, in order to navigate your way through seas of abled bodied people in motorized scooters, watch mop demonstrations, smell goat shit, and eat copious amounts of fried dough while wearing your “Because Roadkill” t-shirt, then head on down to the Big E. If not, then stay home and never, ever go this cesspool of humanity ever again.
Please consider supporting local journalism by donating to the Turtle fund:
Follow us on Youtube, SoundCloud, Twitter, and Facebook.
Hello Turtle Riders. As you know if you follow Turtleboy we are constantly getting censored and banned by Facebook for what are clearly not violations of their terms of service. Twitter has done the same, and trolls mass reported our blog to Google AdSense thousands of times, leading to demonitization. We can get by and survive, but we could really use your help. Please consider donating by hitting the PayPal button above if you’d like support free speech and what we do in the face of Silicon Valley censorship. Or just buy our award winning book about the dangers of censorship and rise of Turtleboy:
