COLUMBUS – Sometime late Sunday afternoon, the last elephant ear will be sold, the Ferris wheel will stop turning, the last visitor will walk back out of the gate and the 2022 Ohio State Fair will end its 12-day run.
The gates at the Ohio Expo Center close at 6:00 p.m., signaling the end of the first post-pandemic fair, which was canceled in 2020 and closed to the public last year.
Nearly 1 million people attended the last fully operating fair in 2019, which was an increase over 2018’s attendance.
Highlights of the fair’s final day include a visit from Columbus Zoo and Aquarium animals at the Natural Resources Park amphitheater and the traditional Sale of Champions at 2:00 p.m. in the WCOL Celeste Center.
The annual auction of prize-winning livestock exhibited by young competitors consistently attracts some of the highest bids of any state fair in the nation, generating a record $394,500 in 2021.
More whimsical entertainment includes the Rubber Chicken Show’s launching of a rubber chicken from a cannon on the Main Street Stage.