The 2021 Ohio State Fair will be closed to the public

Jaynie Norman • April 15, 2021

Ohio Politics

Updated Apr 08, 2021; Posted Apr 08, 2021 w post

By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com           

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The 2021 Ohio State Fair will be closed to the public because of coronavirus and financial concerns, fair officials announced Thursday.


However, competitions will still be held this summer for exhibitors, their families, and guests, according to a release on the state fair’s website.


The Ohio Expositions Commission made the decision not to publicly open the fair for a second straight year because of ongoing concerns about spreading the coronavirus, the financial cost of maintaining health safeguards, and the lasting impacts on the fair in the long term, the release stated.


Virgil Strickler, the fair’s longtime general manager, said in a statement that even though vaccination rates are “improving significantly” in Ohio, the fight against the pandemic is still ongoing.


Where we are today in this battle makes it challenging to plan a large-scale entertainment event, not knowing where we will be, or what Ohio will look like, in late July,” Strickler stated. “I wish we had a crystal ball, but we don’t.”


He added that if a fair was held this year, it would likely be financially “devastating,” as attendance would likely be far lower than usual and seating capacities at events would have to be reduced. Youth and senior livestock competitions, along with educational project judging for non-livestock competitions, will still be held this year -- though only exhibitors and family members will be allowed to attend. The livestock competitions are expected to take place between July 19 and Aug. 8, according to the release.


Fair officials stated they expect to hold the 2022 Ohio State Fair with rides, concerts, entertainment, food vendors, and shopping open to the public.


The fair’s announcement comes just two days after Gov. Mike DeWine announced that his administration’s ban on county fairs and other mass gatherings would be lifted so long as visitors take proper coronavirus precautions, such as wearing masks and remaining in small groups that remain apart from each other.


DeWine, a Greene County Republican, said Thursday he still anticipates that all county and independent fairs will be able to fully open this year. But the state fair, he said during a televised briefing, is “unique” because of its size and sources of revenue.


“I’m comfortable with the decision that (state fair officials) made,” DeWine said. The governor said his administration will ask state lawmakers to allow some of the funding provided under the latest federal stimulus package to help subsidize the fair.

Dairy officials are still working to see whether, unlike last year, this year’s Ohio State Fair will have a butter cow -- a fair tradition for more than a century.


“We’re going to do our best to figure out a way to keep that butter display tradition going,” said Jenny Crabtree, senior vice president of communications for the American Dairy Association Mideast, which presents the butter cow every year.



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