'Candy Nation' -- The fair gets a sugar fix

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Inside Pioneer Hall at State Fair Park sits a 22-foot-high candy mountain, studded with lollipops and gumdrops, looking for all the world like the fever dream of a 10-year-old all hopped up on jelly beans.

Before you take a bite, though, you should know that the mountain is actually made mostly of chicken wire and spray foam. It's part of this year's Central Washington State Fair marquee exhibit, "It's a Candy Nation." The mountain, which features three waterfalls, is just one of many whimsical aspects of the exhibit.

"Picture the biggest moving vans you can get," said Dianne LaBissoniere, the marketing and special projects manager of the fair. "They came in with two of those."

It also took two semi-trucks, said Troy Carlson, who owns the company running the candy exhibit, Stage Nine Entertainment. "It's a Candy Nation" features exhibits on Jelly Belly, See's Candy chocolates, Willy Wonka and a whole bunch more. That's in addition to the exhibit's retail section, which will allow fairgoers to stock up on everything from everyday modern candies to nostalgic, hard-to-find stuff like Clove and Black Jack gums.

The company has been doing similar exhibits for years at the California State Fair in Sacramento, going through topics such as Hollywood and the history of toys before moving on to candy.

"This one has been especially fun," Carlson says. "We've had a lot of fun with candy, especially because we can sample as we work. We haven't gotten sick of it yet."

On Tuesday, as he and his staff worked to get the exhibit ready for today's opening, Carlson walked past boxes upon boxes of candy. He pointed out the glass case with Willy Wonka's hat and cane from the 2005 film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which sat only a few feet away from an educational display on real-life titans of candy such as Franklin Mars and Richard Cadbury.

Candy production is a big part of the exhibit, with educational videos and displays adding technical and historical perspective. Among the favorite displays when the exhibit was up in California were the cases of vintage candy and candy wrappers, Carlson said.

"It takes them back to that candy store they used to go to," he said. "One thing we always hear from people is, 'I remember when these were a penny.'"

Among the most interactive parts of the exhibit is something called the Beanboozled Wheel, at which kids can spin a wheel to determine which kind of Jelly Belly they'll get. They either end up with a regular, delicious flavor like peach or berry blue or an identical-looking foul flavor like vomit or toothpaste from the company's Beanboozled line.

It's fun for spectators as well as participants.

"There's nothing people love more than to watch other people eating something bad," he said.

For those unlucky enough to draw such a flavor, there's enough delicious candy around to rehab the taste buds.

There's also a cooler full of old-time cane-sugar sodas.

"You've got to have something to wash down all that candy with," Carlson said.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.