Carnival & Fair News

Ohio fairs as a collective association, may have celebrated a centennial convention, but their attitude is anything but old. A revitalized state fair – one of the top 20 in the nation – feeding into and nourished by a committed network of local and county fairs has created an effective confluence of agriculture, education and family programing. Add to that a solid 2024 and an enthusiastic cohort of fair professionals – and you get a convention both celebratory and forward looking.

The exhilarating attitude was exemplified in this year's convention theme – Moving Forward. “Up beat,” was how Howard Call, Executive Director, described this year's conventioneers. “The Ohio fair season was strong. [we had] tremendous turnout from the fairs and service members for the 100th annual convention of the Ohio fairs.”

Attendance exceeded 4,000, which Call claimed was 500  more people who attended than in 2024. All of the OFMA membership – which includes 87 county fairs and seven independent fairs and more than 240 associate members from allied fields –  were represented and he estimated that 80 percent were fair professionals with the remaining 20 percent consisting of associate members, vendors and the contestants and participants in the annual crowning of the Ohio Fair Queen.

Strong 2024

The Ohio State Fair had a very strong 2024, attracting just under a million fairgoers. Was this support echoed throughout the state's fair network? “Yes,” said Call. “We had very strong support in the local counties for their fairs. Attendance and food sales was strong, ride grosses were as in 2023.

However, an overlooked category at most fairs – merchandise vendors – might have been the main victims of inflation. Call: “ General merchandise straight  sales fell sharply late summer into the fall.”

Inflation also took a toll, impacting profitability. According to Call, the “steep rises in food costs, security and utilities drove margins smaller for fairs and vendors.”

Disruptive teens – “youth's attitudes” – was top-of-mind for many fair mangers. Many fairs nearly doubled their security budgets. The Ohio State Fair implemented a strict admissions policy that banned unaccompanied minors, increased onsite law enforcement as well as a plethora of new security monitoring equipment. But, this was in the wake of a wave of violent incidents at Ohio fairs and festivals that made viral news. The Clark County Fair had to close early due to violent teens and similar incidents were reported at the Fairview Park Sumer Fest, Euclid Church Festival, Trumbull County Fair and the Summit County Fair. A shooting involving teens was reported at the Macedonia Summer Festival.

While disruptive teens plagued the fair industry nationwide, no state seems to have so many reported incidents as Ohio last year. One of the highest attended educational seminars at the 2025 convention was Keeping your Event Safe, whose speakers included Ohio law enforcement personnel.  

The convention presented 130 workshops/round tables. Many popular seminars reflected a pragmatic, proactive attitude in keeping with the convention's Move it Forward theme. Subjects included: Grandstand Entertainment; What Works and What Doesn't; Hiring, Supporting & Succession Planning; Easier to do yourself?? Delegate!!; Rubber Band Resilience: Stretch without Snapping; Software for Fair Management; Leadership in Changing Times: Embrace Change & Thrive;  Big Strategies for Small Budgets: Manage & Market Like the Majors; Recruiting & Retaining Volunteers; How to Co-exist with Multiple Generations in the Work Place;  Concession & Ride Contracts: What Should be Included in Event Contracts.

Bird Flu Crisis

Ohio has also become the Midwest epicenter of the emerging Bird Flu crisis. In the month of January alone, more than 11 million infected chickens were destroyed in Ohio. At the same time, the Buckeye State was the first state in the union to report a human had contracted the H1N5 virus, It's a troubling situation and the Ohio Poultry Association held a seminar on testing and other related topics, but it's also a rapidly evolving issue.

“Avian Flu is hitting Ohio's Poultry,” said Call. Our youth junior fair poultry projects are 50 percent of their 4-H work. It was reviewed at the Convention.
This is a very fluid topic and we expect in March to hear plans for the summer exhibitions.”

While Brian Baldridge, Director,  Ohio Department of Agriculture, spoke at the meeting – his annual Breakfast event was attended by 700+ —  and the state's Governor Mike DeWine has been recognized as one of the most pro-fair office holders, there were no grant writing seminars listed in this year's convention schedule.” Ohio Fairs have been very fortunate in the last 4 years,” said Call. “But we expect that support will be sparse in 2025.”

This year is DeWine's last in office – he's term limited – but the OFMA will retain its lobbying presence in the state's capital. “OFMA  uses a Columbus firm to look after legislative items and represent Oho Fairs,” said Call.

 The tradeshow exhibition had nearly 20 more exhibitors than 2024, a total of 165. Call noted that there were “many more ground acts this year.”

Like other states, Ohio is experiencing a death of carnival companies but this year that post-lockdown shortage eased. “Ohio has seen four smaller ride companies sprout up with 7-10 rides+- to fill the void,” said Call. Talley Amusements, Kissel Entertainment and Reithoffer Shows were among the ride companies sponsoring convention events.

New Queen

The event concluded with the 100th Big Party, and instead of the annual Showcase of Acts, attendees were treated to an exclusive  Country Music Concert by Jo Dee Messina.

Despite the possible looming Bird Flu crisis, Call is insistent that the upcoming season will be a positive one for the OFMA member events. He cited that the “General attitude of the state” is positive, adding that “the election is behind us and inflation is flatting out, should be a good year.”

A crowning highlight of any OFMA convention is a new Ohio Fair Queen, selected from a field of 78 county queen contestants. The monarch's duties include visiting all of Ohio Fairs, strengthening fair traditions the entire network of Ohio fairs. The winner this year is  Amberly Szczerbiak. representing the Fayette County Fair. She replaces 2024's queen, Leah Schuhart from the Musckingum County Fair.

In her final thoughts to the OFMA convention, Schuhart said. “I cannot say enough how much of a blessing it has been to have the opportunity to travel to fairs all across the state and meet so many amazing people. After 6,953 miles and 51 different fairs, it is so rewarding to be able to look back at everything I learned and all of the fun I had. I am left with so many memories and enough photos to fill up an art museum, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.”