INDIANAPOLIS — This year’s Indiana State Fair, which starts Friday, will celebrate the renovation of the coliseum and feature a beer and wine exhibition made possible by a new state law that will allow alcohol sales at the fair for the first time in nearly 70 years.
To mark the $53 million renovation of the coliseum, the fair’s theme is the “Year of the Coliseum” and headline concerts featuring big-name entertainment such as Phillip Phillips, Pitbull and Hunter Hayes will play at the venue.
“This is really its grand debut,” state fair spokesman Andy Klotz said of the upgraded coliseum, “because this is our biggest event of the year. We didn’t have a coliseum last year. We know people are excited to get back in there and see what it is like especially for those livestock shows and draft horse shows.”
The coliseum reopened in April, and along with the $10 million renovation of the youth arena, the project marked the largest capital improvement to date at the fairgrounds. The renovation features 96 of the coliseum’s original seats and a recreation of the original terrazzo floor, along with a new sound system and other modern-day upgrades.
Amid the new events planned at the fair, which runs Friday through Aug. 17, the hallmarks of the longtime Hoosier tradition also will return with livestock competitions, unique food concoctions, such as the cheeseburger basket on a stick and fruit twister shake-up, and carnival rides.
Fair administrators are calling one of the newest aspects of the fair a “test run.” Fair organizers came to state lawmakers earlier this year requesting the ability to sell alcohol, which is done at other events on the fairgrounds throughout the year but not the actual fair since 1946.
Klotz said the Indiana Beer and Wine Exhibition will proceed with caution. The exhibition will have a three-drink limit with patrons receiving a wristband with three pull tabs that they’ll turn in for drinks at the Grand Hall.
The daily exhibition is limited to fairgoers 21 years and older and will feature Indiana craft beer and wine, including Evansville-based Tin Man Brewing on Aug. 4 and Winzerwald Winery on Aug. 8, 10 and 11.
“Because this is a change and change is difficult for us Hoosiers sometimes,” Klotz said, “we want to make sure that people have a good experience in there. Our No. 1 goal with it is to educate people about what a big part of our (agricultural) economy the beer and wine industry is in Indiana.”
This year also brings additional changes to the fair’s schedule to accommodate students as more schools move the start date for classes earlier in the year.
The fair expanded to 17 days in 2009 to better accommodate families who wanted to enjoy the event while also juggling the first days of school. This year thanks to legislation passed this year by state lawmakers students can request up to five excused absences from school if they participate in the fair. Also to accommodate school schedules, the high school band competition, historically the first day of the fair, will move to Saturday, and the Indiana State Fair Queen Pageant will be held in January.
Klotz said working with school schedules and the timing of county fairs, which feed into the state fair, has been a challenge. He said the new law on excused absences is an advantage for 4-H members and Future Farmers of America participants because they don’t have to worry about unexcused absences showing on their records.
“We continually evaluate what we can do to make this the best state fair and yet make it accessible for all those people, especially teachers and kids who are back in school,” Klotz said.
Amanda Mosiman, with Purdue Extension in Warrick County, helped kids check in at the Swine Barn and other 4-H projects on Wednesday.
Mosiman said 4-H events are packed to the front of the fair to help school-aged children participate, but since 4-H is strong in Southwestern Indiana counties, she doesn’t know of any instances where a child has had issues receiving an excused absence to participate in the state fair.