COLUMBUS — Officials say this year’s Ohio State Fair will focus on promoting the best the state has to offer in areas including Ohio’s agricultural industry.
The 2018 state fair will be held July 25 through Aug. 5 at the Ohio Expo Center. The opening ceremony and ribbon cutting will take place at 9:00 a.m. at the Cardinal Gate, where Gov. John Kasich and fair general manager Virgil Strickler will kick off the 12-day event with music, performances and entertainment.
Ohio State Fair by the numbers:
1903 – First butter cow and calf were featured at the fair (sculpted by A. T. Shelton & Company, distributors of Sunbury Cooperative Creamery butter)
982,305 – 12-day attendance record (2015)
115,288 – Single-day attendance record (7/28/13)
100,000 – Plants and flowers throughout the grounds
45 – Number of years logged by the current longest-serving fair employee
-Source: Ohio State Fair
Fair officials say this year’s event includes a wide range of food, entertainment, agriculture, livestock and art exhibitions. Highlighted traditions and interactive displays for all ages also will be available.
RELATED: The butter cow and calf honor the film “A Christmas Story”
Among the new food items featured at this year’s fair are the Big Buchanan Sausage with Kimchi, described as a sausage smothered in a special onion, bell pepper and Kimchi sauce. Der Dutchman restaurant is taking a fruit pie in a half-moon shaped crust deep-frying it. Stuffed waffles are stuffed with a variety of ingredients, such as cookie dough, Milky Way bars, Snickers bars, sausage or chicken, and served fair-style, on a stick. The Dragon’s Breath dessert at Martin’s Fine Foods is described as “nitrogen dragon puffs” which cause smoke to billow from the nostrils and mouth of the eater.
RELATED: Fair officials reassure visitors rides are safe after last year’s accident
The Commodores and the Beach Boys are among the artists scheduled to perform at the fair.
Livestock exhibitions will include cattle, goats, poultry, sheep, llamas, horses, swine, rabbits and more.
The eight-acre Natural Resources Park features a lumberjack show every day and free fishing for kids, kayaking, archery, a butterfly house and a watercraft simulator and much more. The 14-foot animatronic Smokey Bear greets visitors by name and helps them take a pledge for fire safety.
Pig races, a petting zoo, the chance to participate in creating a giant fair-themed mural each day, and the Budweiser Clydesdales, the symbol of Anheuser-Busch for than 85 years,are among the free attractions.
Horticulture and floriculture competitions will include giant pumpkins and floral arrangements among other contests.
This year’s event will be the 165th Ohio State Fair.