The Big E’s Connecticut Building Offers Virtual Shopping

If it weren't for stupid COVID-19, we would be enjoying The Big E in person at this moment. It was supposed to run right now through the beginning of October. One of the best things about going was making your way through each of the 5 New England State buildings. I loved the Maine baked potatoes, the Rhode Island clam fritters, the Maine lobster rolls, the Vermont Maple syrup and Cabot cheese, and whatever Massachusetts and Connecticut came up with to try to drum up a little tourism.

As we've seen this year, a lot of local fairs and harvest festivals have gone the drive-thru route, including the Big E themselves, and a couple of promoters have gone as far as to set up virtual marketplaces for the thousands of vendors that have no place to peddle their crafts and wares. Well, that's exactly what the State of Connecticut's Office of Tourism has done for the local Connecticut vendors that can't sell their corndogs in person.

If you go to visitct.com, there's a growing list of Connecticut vendors broken down into 7 categories: Foods, Arts & Crafts, Farms & Produce, Wine, Beer & Soft Drinks, Tourism Attractions & Entertainment, Pet-Related, and Other. If you click on the Food section, for example, they link to 10 Connecticut vendors that are selling culinary delights like kettle corn, BBQ, products from Maple Craft Foods in Sandy Hook, and soup mixes. Tourism Attractions & Entertainment lists a couple of Connecticut musicians, and big entertainment venue websites, like Mohegan Sun and Beardsley Zoo. Good Doggy Treats of Brookfield even offers up a 10% coupon under the Pet-Related category.

Check out the website, it's nice to know that there are options for so many Connecticut workers trying to get their products into our hands, without the large gatherings this year due to the pandemic.