WEST SPRINGFIELD — Break open your piggy bank for hard cash and bring your credit cards with you, too, so you can shop and eat your way nonstop through The Big E — now the fourth-largest fair in North America.

This year’s Big E begins Friday, Sept. 12, and runs for 17 days through Sept. 28.

“Our recognition as the fourth largest fair is based on attendance, and our numbers were through the roof after a record-setting year in 2024 that saw 1,633,935 fairgoers from far and near walking through our gates,” said Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition, about the recognition from Carnival Warehouse , which each year ranks the Top 50 Fairs in North America.

Cassidy noted that since its founding in 1917, the fair has kept up with the times while remaining true to

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