A fair that binds

The one thing capable of uniting a fractured community may be a family of human cannonballs. Chickens, goats and carnival rides help, too.

Mark your calendar: The Greater Baton Rouge State Fair returns October 22 with the familiar pleasures of cotton candy and controlled chaos. But the fair is more than an excuse to eat something deep-fried within earshot of children screaming on a shaking ride. It is a temporary republic—open to people who want the City Park Golf Course kept pristine and those who would rather have open land where children can frolic.

This year’s attractions include Tina Miser, whose family business is defying gravity. She is a human cannonball. Her daughter, Skyler Miser, performs aerial routines. It is difficult to remain divided while watching a woman become a projectile.

Closer to earth, earnest young exhibitors will parade carefully raised animals before judges in pursuit of blue ribbons. Families travel from as far away as Monroe for the livestock shows, where months of feeding, grooming and early mornings come down to a few tense minutes in the ring.

Reptiles will join the fair this year. Louisiana Snake ID will teach visitors how to identify and care for snakes, and why the proper response to seeing an alarming-looking one is generally not to kill it.

Even the midway has a civic purpose. Since 1987, the fair has contributed about $5 million to local nonprofits. Some of the money spent on rides, games and sideshows eventually makes its way back into the parish.

For two weeks, Baton Rouge can gather beneath the same carnival lights: children chasing ribbons, adults chasing children, and one remarkable woman chasing altitude.