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Trip Tips
Family Fun at the State Fair

To optimize your time at the Indiana State Fair we have created customized itineraries to help accommodate young families to teens to the annual State Fair visitor.  Also feel free to customize your own Fair visit as you learn more about our 2013 activities!!!! There is something for everyone and Fun at Every Turn!

Big Fun, Little Kids: Allow 4 hours

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This itinerary is set up for families traveling with many little ones.

  • The Glass Barn: A great place to start your trip with high tech, interactive programs that are a must to see and learn about where our food comes from in this brand new building.
  • Snack Time: Stop next door at the Farm Bureau Building to grab some free popcorn……gotta keep your energy up while you celebrate the “Year of Popcorn! Presented by Pop Weaver!”
  • Family Fun Park: The family fun park is loaded with live shows, animals and hands-on fun. There really is something for everyone at this stop.
  • Kiddieland Midway:  With over a dozen kiddie carnival rides, you won’t want to miss this new addition to the State Fair.
  • World’s Largest Boar and Champion Sow & Litter: Located in the swine barn, this fair favorite is a sight to see. 
  • Get Animated! – an exhibit on animation and cartoons.  Explore the fascinating world of animation in this 8,000 square foot exhibit in the Grand Hall.
  • Maybe you have been through a corn maze before, but probably not a POPCORN MAIZE!  Now’s your chance – stop on by the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand Side Lot and travel through the A-maize-ing Popcorn Adventure pres. by Subaru.
  • Meal Time: After stopping by Get Animated!, you’ll be just a hop, skip and jump away from the Dairy Bar where you can find grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes that are sure to please even the pickiest eaters.

Tweens, Teens, and everyone in between: Allow 4 hours

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Celebrate the end of summer......

  • World’s Largest Boar and Champion Sow & Litter: Located in the swine barn, this fair favorite is a sight to see. 
  • Get Animated: From the Classics to the Computer – explore the unique and entertaining world of animation
  • Lego Exhibit in the Home & Family Arts: Take in these miniature creations of Lucas Oil Stadium & Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Home & Family Arts Building
  • Head over to the Ball State Ag/Hort Building to see the “World’s Largest Popcorn Ball” presented by Indiana Family of Farmers & Watermelon seed spitting contest.
  • Take spin on the new Alien Abduction ride in the Midway
  • Sample your fried fair favorite foods.
  • Stop at the Marsh Free Stage to take in a FREE Show

Farm Tour: Allow 6 hours

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  • Pioneer Village is a chance to travel back in farm time
  • The Green House offers a “Take Out Garden” to plant at your own home
  • The Glass Barn – A clear look at Indiana farming, featuring FaceTime with a farmer!
  • Ball State Ag/Hort Building let’s you check out the Specialty Crops
  • DuPont Food Pavilion: Watch Chefs create Farm to Fork Masterpieces, then sample away!
  • While you are on the Southside of the Fairgrounds, stroll through all the livestock barns to see the draft horses, dairy cows and piglets

Date Night: Allow 3 hours

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  • Dow AgroSciences Celebration Park features an ICE SKATING Show, the Rosstyn Ice Show
  • Stroll through the State Fair one of a kind Covered Bridge and snap a photo memory
  • Get Animated – From the Classics to the Computer – explore the unique and entertaining world of animation
  • Hook your sweetie with an old fashioned treat with two straws at Hook’s Drug Store!
  • Marsh Free Stage – Check your daily schedule to see the hot act of the evening!
  • Cap your night with a ride on the Giant Ferris Wheel

Walk Down Memory Lane: Allow 2 hours

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Appreciate the history of our 157 year old Indiana tradition with a stroll through some of our most historic sites and make memories of your own.

  • Home & Family Arts – Wonder the halls to see crafts of the past & present.
  • Coliseum Tours – See history in the making with a walk-thru tour of the Coliseum renovation in progress.
  • Historic Speed Barns – Check out the makeover of one of these historic barns and see the newly created equine art.
  • Pioneer Village: A destination spot for over 50 years

Foodie Fun: Allow 2-6 hours

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How much can you handle!? Take a culinary tour through the Fair.

  • Chicken on a stick
  • Fried candy bars
  • Healthy Food options (REALLY!)
  • Indiana products sampled all day at the DuPont Food Pavilion
  • Frozen, creamy connections