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There were no Lake Union fireworks last year or this year 鈥� and and won鈥檛 be back in person until 2022 — but the is one of many similar agriculture-themed events returning this summer. But unique to the Evergreen State Fair is its mysteriously appealing signature ice cream dessert drink that鈥檚 also making a comeback.

On Thursday, Aug. 26, the second biggest fair in the state 鈥� in terms of attendance 鈥� will be 鈥渂ack in the saddle鈥� in Snohomish County after skipping last year due to COVID 鈥� like pretty much every other event.

The Evergreen State Fairgrounds are in Monroe on about 200 acres along Highway 2 at the intersection of State Route 522, which is where the fair has been held since 1949. That year was a big one. Along with the new fairgrounds, what鈥檚 now Highway 2 between Snohomish and Monroe had just undergone a major upgrade, and it鈥檚 when they started calling what had been the Snohomish County Fair the 鈥淓vergreen State Fair,鈥� in honor of Washington鈥檚 1890s nickname.

Prior to 1949, the fair moved around a few times over the decades. It all began in Snohomish in 1874, before moving to Monroe in the early 1900s, and then shifting to Granite Falls in 1916. The fair wasn鈥檛 held for most of the 1930s and during World War II, but it started up again near downtown Monroe in 1945 with a 4-H focused event called 鈥淐avalcade of the Valleys鈥� that morphed back into the Snohomish County Fair in 1946.

Jeremy Husby is manager for Snohomish County of the Evergreen State Fair and the year-round fairgrounds facility which, in non-pandemic times, typically hosts hundreds of events. After deciding in mid-May 2021 to produce the fair this year, Husby and his staff have been busy for months getting ready for the vendors, the 4-H kids, the animals, and 鈥� fingers crossed 鈥� for the crowds.

Inspired by Hollywood cowboy Gene Autry鈥檚 , the forward-looking, yet retro theme for this year鈥檚 post-COVID Evergreen State Fair is 鈥淏ack in the Saddle.鈥�

鈥淚 think it was one of our planners came up with the theme and it just fit really well, 鈥楤ack in the Saddle Again,鈥欌�� Husby told 成人X站 Radio. 鈥淲e were a year off, and now we’re back in the saddle and it kind of meshes with our community kind of country feel, and really explains how a lot of us feel.鈥�

鈥淲e fell off the horse, and we’re going to get right back up on it, and we’re going to ride proud,鈥� Husby said.

Husby says vendors and staff will all be wearing masks during this year鈥檚 fair, and in its open areas and well-ventilated buildings, the 2021 edition of the Evergreen State Fair will have everything you鈥檇 expect to find, including carnival rides and games, monster trucks, concerts, car races, and a demolition derby.

But that鈥檚 not all.

鈥淥ur animals course, that’s what we’re really known for is having just a really good line of animals,鈥� Husby continued. 鈥淥ur fair food. Scones. Purple Cow. Our stage and roving entertainment. We have a lumberjack show, which is really popular.鈥�

Purple Cow?

Husby says a Purple Cow is a popular ice cream drink that鈥檚 only available at the Evergreen State Fair. The name comes from a short whimsical poem written by Gelett Burgess in 1895, and recited by schoolchildren throughout much of the 20th聽century.

Though he wouldn鈥檛 divulge the recipe, Husby did say Purple Cows 鈥� the drink, not the poem 鈥� are sold at a booth operated by a nonprofit group called the Snohomish County Dairy Women as a fundraiser for their outreach program, and for scholarships and other projects that support dairy farms and dairy families.

The Purple Cow and its Dairy Women boosters are a reminder, if anyone needs one, that agriculture in Snohomish County is still the backbone of the Evergreen State Fair. For the past 18 years or so, the 鈥淒airy Woman鈥� who鈥檚 been running the booth at the fair 鈥� and the entire Purple Cow operation 鈥� has been Carrie Neff.

鈥淎 Purple Cow is a blackberry float,鈥� Neff told 成人X站 Radio. 鈥淚t’s blackberry ice cream, blackberry syrup, and 7-Up鈥� 鈥� though, technically, Neff says, with Coca-Cola as a fair sponsor, the lemon-lime soda being used this year for Purple Cows is Sprite.

Isn鈥檛 all of this valuable proprietary information that should not be shared with a meddling radio historian? Especially one with a tape recorder running?

鈥淚t’s not really a secret recipe,鈥� Neff said, chuckling, and then reconsidering for a moment. 鈥淵ou don’t [know which brand of] blackberry syrup [we use], but it’s not well hidden.鈥�

Neff says that the Purple Cow debuted at the fair in 1960, and was the invention of two Snohomish County Dairy Women named Mary Lou Lane and Ellen Dodge and their respective husbands. Purple Cows are only sold during the Evergreen State Fair, as well as two car show events at the fairgrounds in May and October that the Snohomish County Dairy Women are associated with, meaning the iconic beverage is only available for purchase for 16 days each year.

Before COVID hit, the Snohomish County Dairy Women had planned to celebrate the Purple Cow鈥檚 60th anniversary at last year鈥檚 fair. Like the Olympics underway in Tokyo, Neff says that this year is a bit of a delayed celebration of the popular drink, which sell for $5 a piece.

And just how popular is the Purple Cow?

鈥淲e have people that come every day for them,鈥� Neff said. 鈥淲e have people who say, 鈥業’ve never had one, but I hear they’re really good.鈥� We have people that come running up saying, 鈥業 have to have my Purple Cow,鈥� and they come first thing when they get there. And there are the same people who come running up the last day of the fair saying, 鈥業 need one more before you’re gone.鈥欌��

For someone who may have never tasted a Purple Cow 鈥� let alone heard of one 鈥� what do they taste like?

鈥淚t sounds very sweet, but it’s actually quite refreshing,鈥� Neff said. 鈥淎lmost everybody asks what a Purple Cow is. You tell them and they kind of make a face. Most people will try it and most people will say, 鈥業t sounded too sweet but, wow, that really is good.’鈥�

Then, almost as an afterthought, Neff added: 鈥淎nd every 13th Purple Cow is free.鈥�

How this works is the person making the Purple Cows keeps a tally, and for every 13th drink she makes, she rings a bell, indicating that that particular Purple Cow is given out for free to whichever customer it was destined for. Neff says people sometimes even try to adjust their place in line in order to try and get a free one 鈥� something she says her son did when he was a teenager 鈥� but it鈥檚 almost impossible to predict when the 13th drink will emerge and the bell will ring.

Neff says the Snohomish County Dairy Women will sell thousands of Purple Cows over the run of the fair, depending on attendance and weather, and that she鈥檒l be exhausted when it鈥檚 all over, as she is every year. Except, that is, for 2020.

As bad as the pandemic was for so many reasons, Carrie Neff admits that a break from Purple Cow duties last year was 鈥渓ike a vacation.鈥�

With summer weather a key to vacations and to much more than just Purple Cow sales at the fair, fair manager Jeremy Husby is hoping for sunshine in late August and early September. Husby says it rained on the fair back in 2013, and that was the only year in recent memory where attendance dipped a little compared with previous years. Husby says the 2019 fair drew a record 355,000 people, and they aim to at least come close to that number this year.

But, when it comes to talking about what the weather might be like for the 鈥淏ack in the Saddle鈥� edition of the Evergreen State Fair, it seems that fair people can be, well, a little superstitious.

鈥淲e try not to even mention the word 鈥榬ain,鈥欌�� Husby said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of unspoken around our office that you just don’t even bring it up.鈥�

The Evergreen State Fair begins on Thursday, Aug. 26, and runs through Labor Day 鈥� with a one-day closure in the middle of the run on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Purple Cows can be found at Booth Number 613 by the animal barns.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea, please email Feliks鈥�here.