Students craving that down-home country feeling flocked to Tercentenary Theatre Friday evening for a taste of Southern-style fun that included the chance to ride a mechanical bull in front of the Widener steps or dunk their deans.

Between 5,500 and 6,000 Harvard College students, faculty, and staff attended the first-ever Harvard State Fair, according to College Campus Life Fellow, or “fun czar,” Justin H. Haan ’05. The event was made financially possible because of savings on staffing requirements after the switch to online registration this year.

Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II and Haan conceived of the fair over the summer. Three Undergraduate Council representatives helped them organize Friday’s fair, which was funded by the Office of the Dean.

“We wanted to capture the essence of a state fair here at Harvard and to welcome students back,” Haan said.

Attendees snacked on sausages, popcorn, cotton candy, and caramel apples, tested their strength on an old-fashioned carnival standby, the bell striker, and socialized on pockets of haystacks between booths. The Boston-bred Dave Foley Band played country music above the crowd on the steps of Memorial Church.

The event had originally been scheduled to bring Freshman Week to a close, but was postponed due to rainy weather.

“This is a great opportunity to spend time with friends,” said Nicholas A. Noyer ’09. But the State Fair didn’t change his perception of Harvard’s party scene, he said. Last spring, the Boston Globe reported the results of a 2002 survey of 31 schools in which Harvard placed fifth from the bottom in student satisfaction with social life.

At the State Fair, students gathered around the dunk tank in front of Sever Hall to try their hand at soaking faculty members and student leaders. Quincy House Master Robert P. Kirshner ’70 was the first to be dunked.

“I felt there was a kind of anger being expressed,” Kirshner said jokingly. “Students really wanted to dunk me.” Despite heckling the students who hurled softballs towards the release lever, the astronomy professor hit the water and found that “gravity never fails.”

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 was also dunked, but didn’t stay in the wet seat for as long as other victims, who sat for a full 15 minutes. “But it was quality time,” Gross said.

Students also formed throngs on the steps of Widener Library to watch their peers try to hang onto the mechanical bull. Haan managed to procure the same mechanical beast which was ridden by Cameron Diaz in “Charlie’s Angels” and on shows such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Jerry Springer Show.” Only one person was able to beat the bull.

“It wasn’t quite like riding the bulls in Tennessee,” said Southern native Josh S. Downer ’09 after getting bucked from the bull. Sporting a leather jacket and cowboy hat, he added, “but the barbecue does have a Southern flavor.”

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.edu.