The pigs may race at the fair but at times traffic has come to a crawl just getting to the Nebraska State Fair.
Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Johnson said, "You only have heel to toe traffic once or twice before you figure out we need to do something different."
On its busiest day, the 2011 fair attracted a Husker-like 68,000 people.
State Fair Board Chair Jana Kruger said, "I would've told you you're talking Nebraska football game day."
Johnson said, "They really managed it, maybe not as well as some visitors would have hoped but there weren't any crises that couldn't be overcome."
Shuttles helped, but not enough. Kruger said, "Buses couldn't get here, parked cars offsite and we'd have buses totally tied up in traffic."
The state fair has been caught off-guard by how popular the new fairgrounds have been.
Fair Board Member Tam Allan said, "We've been embarrassed by our success on some times and we want everyone to enjoy the grounds."
But getting to the grounds left some feeling as fried as their favorite gooey snack on a stick.
"We knew after last year we had to look for additional parking," Kruger said.
For 2012, the fair has added another 40 acres of parking on the east side, to accommodate another 3,500 cars. Total, they've got more free parking than they had in Lincoln, as the fair feels settled in its new digs.
"We love it," Kruger said. "We call it home, it is our home."
