By Ken Drenten

The Tracey Family’s Root Beer stand has been a fixture at the Ohio State Fair for decades. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

I’ve attended my share of fairs and festivals in Ohio. First, I can remember going to the Ohio State Fair as a kid with my family. As a teenager in the late 1970s I worked part of one summer at the Ohio State Fair flipping hamburgers at a root beer stand. I earned, as I recall, a whopping $1.88 per hour!

In my newspaper days, I attended numerous county fairs and community festivals, from the Milan Melon Festival to the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival, where I judged a chili contest, rode in parade floats and edited one festival’s print program for several years.

Amusement rides are a big part of Ohio fairs and festivals, like these at the Baltimore Festival. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

If you haven’t been to one of these events in awhile, you owe it to yourself to go. Each one is unique and celebrates the special nature of the people and the heritage of the place. Ohio is rich in creativity when it comes to festivals, from the Moonshine Festival in New Straitsville held May 26-29 to the Obetz Zucchinifest, held in Obetz Sept. 1-4.

The Circleville Pumpkin Show, held each October in the Pickaway County seat, is the granddaddy of all Ohio Festivals. Since the first Pumpkin Show was held in 1903, it’s been going on for 120 years – and those award-winning pumpkins just keep getting bigger.

In this crazy old world we live in, there’s something comforting and reassuring about being able to return to the sights, smells and tastes of these fairs and festivals each year. If one is held in your own community, you may run into and visit with people you haven’t seen in awhile.

Parades are a big part of community festivals, such as this one at the Baltimore Festival that includes a lot of tractors. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

There are amusement rides for the youngsters and young at heart, carnival games and all kinds of fair food like elephant ears, corn dogs, funnel cakes, kettle corn, Belgian waffles and fresh donuts right out of the fryer.

Festivals and fairs provide entertainment, agricultural displays, parades, live music, classic car shows, tractor pulls and much more. Some have old-fashioned steam engine demonstrations, eating contests (sweet corn at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival is my favorite) and horse races.

Find the full schedule of Ohio festivals at https://www.ofea.org/ and the full schedule of county and agricultural fairs at https://agri.ohio.gov/home/news-and-events/all-news/2023-ohio-fairs-schedule-now-available.

Here’s a look at some of the fairs and festivals coming up.

• Miami Valley Steam Threshers Show, Plain City, July 13-16.
• Adamsville Homecoming, Adamsville, July 19-22.
• Vinton County Fair, McArthur, July 24-29.
• Ohio State Fair, Columbus, July 26-August 6.
• Baltimore Festival, Baltimore, August 3-5.
• Ross County Fair, Chillicothe, August 5-12.
• Attica Independent Fair, Attica, August 8-12.
• Muskingum County Fair, Zanesville, August 14-20.
• Nelsonville Parade of the Hills, Nelsonville, August 16-19.
• Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival, Bucyrus, August 17-19.

What memories or experiences do you have about any of Ohio’s fairs and festivals? Share them in the comments section below.

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Ken Drenten is creator and manager of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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