Parents want to know who was responsible for installing a stripper pole at the family-friendly Colorado State Fair. Click here to see the video. It shows an obese woman writhing on the pole as stunned spectators watched in either disbelief or horror.
Organizers of the state fair released a statement to television station KRDO explaining that a third-party vendor had booked the plus-sized performance.
“The events that took place Friday, August 29, on one of our free entertainment stages at the Colorado State Fairgrounds are unfortunate and do not reflect the Fair’s commitment to family-friendly entertainment.
This was part of a series of performances booked by a third-party stage production vendor. The performance’s content was not transparently disclosed before the performance began.
However, the Colorado State Fair takes full responsibility for the performance and for allowing it to continue. We apologize to all who have been impacted.”
Peacock Pole Art, which advertises itself as Southern Colorado’s premier pole dancing studio, defended the performance and said it was entirely family-friendly.
“I want to clarify that our performers at the Colorado State Fair was part of an artistic, athletic, and fully age-appropriate pole performance. Pole is often misunderstood, but it is a legitimate sport and art form—recognized worldwide—with strength, flexibility, musicality, and storytelling at its core,” the studio wrote in a statement.
“We take great pride in curating routines that are empowering, tasteful, and suitable for a family-friendly audience. This was not a nightclub act, nor was it intended to be ‘inappropriate,” the studio wrote in a statement. “It was a celebration of movement, creativity, and culture—just like the other dance and acrobatic acts at the fair.”
And many online observers saluted the plus-sized dancer’s technique.
“Folks are commenting on how strong the pole must be,” said one woman. “I’m coming on here to comment how strong she is: Physically strong, mentally and emotionally strong. Wow!”
Another wrote: “She, herself, would have to be at least twice as strong as the average pole dancer. She pulled it off well for her weight. It is odd to be at a state fair, but least it was done tastefully, not X rated.”
Many of our readers, however, commended the red-blooded American steelworkers who crafted the stripper pole.
“I don’t know which is stronger, that weld or her confidence,” one observer noted. Click here to get my breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.