WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — The 2012 Big E officially came to a close Sunday night with a record setting 1.3 million visitors. With big crowds at a big fair, now comes a big cleanup effort.

It was quite a ride. Well over a million people enjoyed the food, rides, and shows at this year’s Big E.

Whats left behind will take days to clean up and ship out.

“It starts today…actually it started last night, says Conrad Halberg of Springfield.

The 17 day event wrapped up at 9:00 last night, but was just the start of a long night for The Big E crews.

“As soon as they closed the gates last night, they started tearing down the rides around 10 or 11 o’clock last night. They got a good jump on it and if you look down at carny land, all the big rides are already down so they are on top of it,” adds Tony Lezinski, one of the Eastern State’s grounds workers, from Springfield.

Halberg, who is helping clean up the Massachusetts Building along the Avenue of the States says that they “Gotta wash all the trash barrels and compactors and floors and all the mess.”

A good kind of mess for Gina Calabrese who did brisk business selling candy apples at the fair

“Everything..from top to bottom needs to be cleaned…We had a great season,” says Calabrese.

And now the big scrub down for The Big E

“The fair itself…they got a couple days work with all the rubbish that’s left behind. Maintenance is going to have a couple fun days ahead of them,” says Lezinski.

Calabrese adds that the work will continue even after they leave West Springfield. “We will be out of here today. We will be done but we clean everything at our location,” she says.

And in eleven and half shorts months, it will start all over again for the next fair, which runs from September 13 to 29, 2013.

Many of the midway carnival rides will be heading south for state fairs in South Carolina.

Friday night Billy Currington took the stage as the first of three big name acts this weekend.

“We save a lot of programming for the final weekend so people understand that the same quality fair they expected on day one is also gonna be day seventeen,” said Eugene Cassidy, Big E President.

Saturday comedian Jeff Dunham will perform in front of a sold out audience and on Sunday it’s Alan Jackson’s turn, also a sold out event.

The fair has set six records for attendance and Cassidy believes it will continue through the weekend.

“I think if the weather holds out for tomorrow and Sunday we are not gonna hit the record, but exceed the record by double digits,” said Cassidy.

A hundred and forty thousand people are needed to reach 1.3 million, according to Cassidy.  The current record for all 17 days is 1,260,000, which was set back in 2009.

The million people who have attended so far are also picking up some of the fairs new and popular foods.

As of Friday night about 69,000 potatoes from the Maine building have been baked and served.  The signature cream puffs and eclairs combined total more than 70,000 and Opa Opa has gone through more than 52 kegs.  All expect to add to those numbers over the next two days.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — It’s going to be a huge weekend at the Comcast Arena at The Big E.

Sunday’s Alan Jackson concert is now sold out, joining the capacity crowd expected Saturday night for ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.

ABC 40′s Brittany Decker talks with the man behind The Big E concerts.

West Springfield, Mass. (WGGB) — If you’ve seen the parade at The Big E this year, then you’ve probably seen or even met two of its biggest stars.

Behind the Avenue of States in 2 very large stalls, a couple of The Big E’s largest and tallest guests have lived there for the past two weeks.

While you really can’t miss them at the fair, you may miss the importance of the Palmer farm where they live.

Executive Director, Pamela Rickenbach says one of the horses is named Mario. He’s a 6 year-old Percheron and he’s at the fair with his 2 brothers and sisters.

Mario and one of the other horses, Mark, are two draft horses taken in by the non-profit Blue Star Equiculture.

The organization is a horse sanctuary and organic farm in Palmer and it specializes in draft horse rescue and retirement. The majority of horses there are up for adoption.

“We’re trying to get the community interested again in its homeless horses,” says Rickenbach.

Rickenbach says their herd of thirty is made up of retired police horses, farm, and New York City carriage horses, “There’s thousands of horses becoming homeless in this country every minute because of the economy.”

Blue Star Equiculture recently was recently thrown into national headlines after taking in a horse named ‘Oreo’.

Spooked, Oreo ran through the streets of Manhattan.

Rickenbach says many were disturbed by the image seen below. She says it was taken after police had tranquilized him.

“Those really graphic images of Oreo on the ground, that’s after the accident,” explained Rickenbach.

The ‘Working Horse’ is something the organization encourages. By giving its horses occupations useful in today’s society like animal powered farming, hauling water, or giving wagon tours, they hope someone will adopt one.

“We have really wonderful trained horses that are older. We have younger ones that are in training,” says Rickenbach.

Meeting thousands on the parade route each day, owners hope promoting the working horse will draft them a better future and Rickenbach adds, “This is really all of our responsibility. America owes a great debt to its horses.”

If you’re interested in what Blue Star Equiculture is all about or want to volunteer or even adopt a horse drop them a call at 413-289-9787 or visit their website by clicking here.

Oh, and the carriage horse Oreo? He was just adopted by New York Yankees President Randy Levine’s wife.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — With 6 daily attendance records already in the books and a huge concert weekend ahead, The Big E is marking one of its most successful years ever. President and CEO Eugene Cassidy sat down with Dave and Shannon to reflect on a great 2012.

West Springfield, Mass. (WGGB) — With a long string of perfect weather, a rainy day is just what some fans of The Big E were waiting for. ABC40′s Brittany Decker caught up fair-goers who enjoy the wet weather.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — There are some headlines that speak for themselves. Please enjoy ABC40 Chief Meteorologist Ed Carroll hitching a ride on an elephant.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) –ABC40′s Dan & Kim show us how The Big E ensures animals are being kept safe.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — For many folks, a trip to The Big E is a daily duty. ABC40′s Brittany Decker introduces us to the “regulars”.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — ABC40′s Brittany Decker learns how to make the perfect corsage.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Dave and Shannon get a taste of another Western Mass staple, Millie’s Pierogi, at The Big E.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Every wonder how to take care of a goat? ABC40′s Brittany Decker gets a personal lesson in goat grooming.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — It’s been a New England fixture for decades, and LEGO is providing a great spot for families and kids to take in some interactive fun.

Located towards the back of the Connecticut Building, kids can put together their best LEGO artwork, for display at the booth’s art gallery.

ABC40 spoke with the folks from LEGO about the fun the kids can have at the booth

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Agawam native and YouTube sensation Dr. Westchesterson has emerged back in the 413.

He took part in today’s parade at The Big E.

Afterward, the doctor sat down with ABC40′s Dave Madsen and Shannon Hegy to talk about his next video, set for release in October.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Tuesday marked Salute to Chicopee Day at The Big E.

During the 5:00 p.m. parade, community leaders and groups were part of the daily festivities.

Check out as the Chicopee Comprehensive High School marching band played for the viewing audience during the 6:00 p.m. news

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — It’s tall, red and yellow in color, and

No, it’s not the golden arches of McDonald’s restaurants. Rather, it’s the McDonald’s Giant Slide.

The ride, which has been a fixture of the Big E midway for years, gives fair-goers a smooth, hilly ride after ascending about 100 steps to the top.

40 in the Morning’s Dan Williams apparently has a fear of the slide, but to help Karen cross it off her bucket list, Dan takes one for the team.

The slide is open everyday, weather permitting.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — The Big E is full of family-friendly entertainment options, and the Super Circus is no exception.

Check out as Anton and Adam show some of their skills to ABC40′s Dave Madsen and Shannon Hegy.

You can catch Adam, Anton, and the rest of The Big E Super Circus everyday at 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00 p.m. under the big red and white circus tent.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — It’s often said that you can find almost anything at The Big E.

Often times, those products and wares offered for purchase are there to help your life more comfortable, convenient, or simpler – or all three.

ABC40′s Dave Madsen and Shannon Hegy talks with Kit White from Florian Tools of Southington, Conn. about their ratcheting tools geared to help your fall cleanups a little easier.

West Springfield, MASS (WGGB) — Some people wait all year for it — that salty-sweet symphony of just-popped kettle corn.

But who makes the best batch at The Big E?

Any kettle corn connoisseur worth their salt knows that if you want the real deal, you’ve got to get from an actual kettle.

Therein lies the dilemma — do you buy from Cloud Nine behind the New Hampshire building? Or Henry’s Kettle Korn in Storrowton Village?

“Well, let’s put it this way, I teach how to make this,” says Bob Bell, owner of Cloud Nine. “The other guys signed up, but they never came to class.”

“Surprisingly, they actually look for the hat,” says Henry Towner, owner of Henry’s Kettle Korn. “I have a lot of people that look for the hat, but I have a lot of people who look for the cooker as well and see that it’s made kind of the old-fashioned way.”

Both Henry and Bob we nice enough to share their kettle corn cooking secrets — which are pretty similar.

But if you eat enough of it — and trust us, we did — you’ll pick up on a few differences.

Henry uses a butterfly kernel, which makes his kettle corn very light.

Bob, on the other hand, uses a mushroom kernel. It gives his kettle corn more of a crunch.

We here at ABC40 would polish off either bag — but most customers end up taking sides.

Dave Wright of Longmeadow says he’s a Henry’s man.

“Always here,” says Wright. “It’s very tasty.”

But for Paul Verme of Guilford, it’s all about Bob’s Cloud Nine kettle corn.

“We come up here just to get it fresh,” says Verme, “I only come here, I don’t trust it — I’d rather just come here.”

Verme adds, “I know it’s fresh, it’s cooked in front of us and it’s nice.”

The Big E wraps up in less than a week, so you’re running out of time to choose your favorite.

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Nothing gets people excited here at The Big E quite like the Sea Lion Splash Show, which is located at the end of the Avenue of the States.

ABC40′s Dave Madsen and Shannon Hegy spoke with Gala Rogacheva, who helps run the show.