October 12, 2026 - Midway

If you're headed to the State Fair of Texas, where do you like to spend your time?  Ok, so some will say the food vendors, while others may like to see the various exhibits, but a lot of people will probably say it’s the midway. That’s where you'll find the rides, games, lights, prizes—and probably at least one person insisting that they absolutely can win that giant stuffed animal.

But why do we call it the midway?

The word itself is actually pretty straightforward. Midway has been part of the English language for hundreds of years, meaning halfway between two points.

But in 1893, the word picked up a new association at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The exposition was a huge world's fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. And among its many attractions was an area called the Midway Plaisance (PLAY-sense).  The Midway Plaisance was literally a long strip of land located between two of the exposition's main parks. But instead of being just a path from one place to another, it became the fair's entertainment district, filled with attractions, food, performers and exhibits from around the world.

And one of those attractions was something brand new: the original Ferris wheel. The Midway became so strongly associated with amusement and entertainment that midway eventually took on a meaning beyond simply “halfway between two places.”

Today, when we talk about the midway at a fair, we mean the area filled with rides, games and attractions. And apparently, being in the middle turned out to be a pretty good place to put a Ferris wheel.