COLUMBUS – The 168th edition of the Ohio State Fair opens its 12-day run on Wednesday.
The 2023 Ohio State Fair runs through Aug. 6.
Mountain Dew Midway: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. (Open 11 a.m. – Midnight on Fridays, 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. Saturdays, Sunday, July 30, and Aug. 2.; closes at 10 p.m. on Aug. 6).
Gate Admission Prices – $12 – Adults 13-59; $10 – Seniors 60+; $10 – Children 6-12
The 2023 butter cow display from the American Dairy Association Mideast pays tribute to Ohio inventors.
It features sculptures of Thomas Edison with a light bulb and a phonograph, Garrett Morgan with a three-position traffic signal, Josephine Cochrane with a hand-powered dishwasher and James Spangler with a portable vacuum cleaner.
The sculptures were crafted from 2,000 pounds of butter and took about 450 hours to complete.
The butter sculpture has been a fixture at the fair since 1903. It is on display inside a cooler kept at 46 degrees.
Among the new food choices on the midway this year: Flaming Hot Cheeto Burgers, a Nacho Sundae and the Ohio Poultry Association’s rotating selection of flavored deviled eggs: cotton candy, lemon meringue, s’mores, maple bacon jalapeño and crunchy chili.
The fair returned in 2022 after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reported attendance of 886,925. That is 5% fewer people through the turnstiles than in 2019.