Besides the rides on the E.K. Fernandez fairway, the Barhams also enjoyed the petting zoo, and Keokina and Harmony were very proud of the art work they made at a University of Hawai'i entomology booth: colorful paintings created by dipping maggots into paint and letting them crawl across paper.

The paint doesn't hurt the maggots, said UH graduate student Adam Vorsino, who helped children guide the insects across paper with tweezers.

"The chemicals in it are not at all noxious," Vorsino said, "compared to what they're used to burrowing in."

The rinsing process, however, was nearly fatal to at least one maggot, forgotten at the bottom of a cup of water, and a small boy crawled beneath the table yesterday, looking for a brightly colored insect that had gone missing.

UH students also served trays of brownies with crickets baked into the top.

"Very good for you," said Leyla Valdivia, a UH student from Peru. "High in protein."

Valdivia, who insists insects are commonly eaten in her country, said the crickets were raised under laboratory conditions for cleanliness.

"Crunchy," Bruce Barham said. His children refused to eat them.

Other treats available at the fair included fresh, Hawai'i-raised fruit, traditional goodies like hot dogs and cotton candy, and the E.K. Fernandez specialty: deep-fried Twinkies.

The fair is an O'ahu County Farm Bureau event and coordinator Charlene Takemoto said farmers were pleased with the new location at the Kapolei fairgrounds.

"We're hoping to really expand it next year," she said.

The fair had been held at Aloha Stadium.

Takemoto didn't have a crowd count yesterday, the last day of the event, but said despite Thursday's rain-out and high heat and humidity over the weekend, attendance had been good.

"Thousand and thousands and thousands," a volunteer parking lot attendant estimated.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.