Latest news with #StateFair
Axios
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
Big Tex's boots head to D.C.
The rest of the country will soon learn why Big Tex's boots are a big deal. Driving the news: The size 96 boots are on the road to Washington, D.C., where they will be displayed in a Smithsonian exhibit about state fairs. Why it matters: Big Tex's boots rarely leave the state. They last traveled to Minneapolis in 1953, for a national Jaycees convention. Fun fact: Big Tex has multiple pairs of boots. The pair heading to D.C. are old, a spokesperson for the State Fair of Texas tells Axios. He's worn his current pair of boots since 2023, which feature an Irving resident's art. Flashback: Big Tex debuted at the 1952 State Fair, wearing size 70 boots and a 75-gallon hat. In October 2012, an electrical short in his boot caused a fire that stripped the cowboy down to his metal frame. Big Tex returned to the fair in 2013, wearing new 12 feet tall, 900-pound boots that were replicas of Big Tex's original boots from 1949. The latest: The boots designated for display are scheduled to arrive in D.C. on Aug. 1 for the Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibit titled " State Fairs: Growing American Craft." The exhibit will share how artists have shaped fairs across the country. The Iowa State Fair's life-size butter cow and 700 jars of preserved fruits and vegetables will also be on display. The exhibit opens Aug. 22 and will close September 2026.
CBS News
a day ago
- Climate
- CBS News
California State Fair reports boost in attendance for 2025
California State Fair officials say they saw another increase in attendance for this year's edition of the summer tradition. Sunday was the final night of the 17-day run of the fair. Unseasonably cool weather appears to have helped boost the crowds for the final weekend, officials say, with more than 90,000 people coming out to the fair on Saturday alone. In total, officials say they had more than 700,000 guests for the 2025 run of the fair – an increase of around 8 percent from last year. "As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with momentum and gratitude," said Tom Martinez, CEO of California Exposition & State Fair, in a statement. The attendance boost continues the positive trend for the fair, which also saw a 10 percent increase in 2024 despite a long stretch of 100-plus degree heat that year.
Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Here's what's happening this year at the Indiana State Fair
Break out the sunscreen and get ready for some funnel cake, free music and deep-fried diet busters. It's time for the Indiana State Fair. Whether you're in it for the animals, the rides, the food or exhibits, here's everything you need to know about the 2025 summer favorite. This year's fair runs from Aug. 1 through Aug. 17. It's closed on Mondays. First time attending? I didn't know what a Hoosier was. Then I went to the Indiana State Fair The fair's hours are 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Entry ends at 8 p.m. every day. The Midway is also closed on Mondays. Here are the full hours, except on the final day of the fair when it will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Also note that wristbands for the Midway aren't sold after 8:30 p.m. or accepted after 10 p.m. Tuesday: 12 p.m. – 11 12 p.m. - 10 12 p.m. – 10 - Saturday: 11 a.m. – 11 12 p.m. - 10 p.m. Building and exhibit hours are Tuesday - Sunday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. This year will feature a new strongman show, interactive glass blowing workshops, a wolfpack, a corn eating competition and more. See the full list of new features and more details here. Those under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or chaperone (age 21+) to enter starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and starting at 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. More on the policy: Full details of Indiana State Fair 2025 Unaccompanied Minor Policy The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center is at 1202 E. 38th Street in Indianapolis. Here are the driving directions suggested on the State Fair website: From the North Via I-65 (Chicago, IL): Take Exit 119 to West 38th Street. Continue 4.5 miles and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be on your left. Via I-69 (Fort Wayne, IN): I-69 becomes Binford Boulevard in Indianapolis. After 6 miles, Binford Boulevard becomes Fall Creek Parkway. From Fall Creek Parkway, turn Right on East 38th Street and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be on your right. From the South Via I-65 (Louisville, KY): Merge onto I-70 East. Take Exit 85B to North Keystone Avenue. Turn Left on East 38th Street and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be ahead on your right. From the East Via I-70 (Columbus, OH): Take Exit 85 to Keystone Avenue and turn Right. Turn Left on East 38th Street and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be ahead on your right. Via I-74 (Cincinnati, OH): Merge onto I-465 North. Take Exit 44A to I-70 West. Take Exit 85 to Keystone Avenue and turn Right. Turn Left on East 38th Street and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be ahead on your the West Via I-70 (St. Louis, MO): Take Exit 85B to North Keystone Avenue. Turn Left on East 38th Street and the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center will be ahead on your right Via I-74 (Danville, IL): Merge onto I-465 North. Take Exit 17 to West 38th Street. Turn Right on West 38th Street and continue 7 miles to the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center on your left. Fairgrounds parking is $10 per vehicle. Available parking areas are located in the Fairgrounds Infield, South Lot (38th Street) and at the Indiana School for the Deaf (42nd Street), while space is available. The South and School for the Deaf lot hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those attending by Uber, Lyft, or taxi should use the address 3773 Woodland Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46205 for your rideshare drop-off location. Enter through Gate 7 on 38th Street. Need some inspiration on what to eat? Check out the gallery below for favorites from past fairs, or click here for a full list of new options for 2025. There is also an extensive list of $5 value offerings from milkshakes and frozen lemonade to grilled cheese. Check out the full menu and where to find them. Advance single-day tickets are available for $14, not including parking, and packages are available. ▶ Click here for more ticket information and to purchase them. Tickets at the gate will cost $16.80 (kids under five are free), but you can get a dollar off if you ride your bike. Check the IndyStar on Aug. 11, for a free ticket, redeemable at the gates only on Farmers' Day, Aug. 13. ▶ Here's a full list of ticket discounts, and see below for our guide to all the deals. Discount guide: How to save money at the 2025 Indiana State Fair. Discounts on tickets, parking, food and more Each year, the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage hosts stars from a variety of genres. Entry is free with your fair ticket, seating is first come first served and you are allowed to bring your own lawn chair. There are some reserved seating areas this year you can buy upgraded access to that include a separate bar and other perks. This year's theme is the "Soundtrack of Summer," which will include an exhibit on iconic album covers and a pop-up record store. Several big names are expected for 2025, including Indianapolis native Babyface and actor Bill Murray. Most performances start at 7:30 p.m., but beware a few do start earlier. ▶ Here's who you can expect this year. Every year, IndyStar sees the requests made by each band and what they were paid. Cheez-Its, M&Ms and absolutely no Sam's Club lasagna were on last year's demands. ▶ Visit the Indiana State Fair website to find your favorite animals and view the schedule of events. Preliminaries for the 2025 Band Day are at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1 at the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand. Finals take place on the same day at 8 p.m. In 2024, more than 854,000 people attended the fair despite some sweltering temperatures, up from 840,414 in 2023, according to data provided by the State Fair. 2024 Fair by the numbers: Indiana State Fair reports increased attendance in 2024, record sales for vendors The Indiana State Fair is so much more than the Midway, 4-H and fried food. Read about its past in the links below. ▶Indiana State Fair: Fair history from plane crash shows to all the dairy ▶Indiana State Fair history: 10 cent hotdogs and 50 cent admission: State Fair prices through the years The impact: 30 numbers that show the Indiana State Fair's impact on Hoosiers over the years
Axios
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
1 big thing: 🐮 The State Fair is a week away
So we meet again, Wednesday. 🌤️ Today's weather: Another hot summer day, with a high in the upper 80s and a chance of thunderstorms. FYI: We could probably copy and paste this forecast for the next week or so. 🎵 Sounds like: " Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts. Alissa Widman Neese, Tyler Buchanan It's almost time for the Ohio State Fair — where you can pet a kangaroo, watch T-Pain perform and eat deep-fried candy bars all in one day. Why it matters: While revered for its unusual food and entertainment, the fair is much more than that. It draws about a million visitors to Columbus from all 88 counties to celebrate our agricultural roots and unite over summertime traditions. Driving the news: The gates are open next Wednesday morning through Aug. 3. What's new: You'll find those kangaroos and other animals at The Barnyard, a new shaded area featuring the popular petting zoo and pig race attractions. Other debuts include chainsaw carving demonstrations and a free circus, plus axe throwing ($10) and a 200-foot-high slingshot ride ($40). Plus: Two gift shops, eight water bottle filling stations and a north-side entry gate. 🎵 Who's performing: From Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band Foreigner to a free Taylor Swift tribute, check out our ranking of this year's lineup. Tickets. Best bites: Several new foods are inspired by 2025's viral flavors, including Dubai chocolate funnel cakes, white cheddar dill pickle cheese curds and a "smashdilla," described as "where a quesadilla and a smash burger fall in love." Schmidt's yearly cream puff is caramel apple. Concession stands offer special $3 items on Thursdays, July 24 and 31. 🤨 Yes, but: We're utterly perplexed by the new buckeye lemonade, "infused with creamy peanut butter and chocolate." What's next: It wouldn't be the State Fair without a Butter Cow. It'll be unveiled Tuesday. Gate hours: 10am–9pm Monday–Friday and 9am–9pm Saturday–Sunday, except the last Sunday, when gates close at 6pm. Map. Daily schedule. $12 adults, $10 kids and seniors at the gate. Kids under 6 free! $10 parking. 🎟️ Ticket pro tips: Buy online before opening day and pay just $8. Discount days are July 28 (adults $10, kids free), July 29 (seniors free) and July 31 (college students $10). Military members, first responders and veterans are free every day with an ID. 2. 😋 Chart du jour: What you can eat on a stick Here's a fun statistic to share with fellow fairgoers: Concession stands will be serving 20 different foods on a stick this year. The intrigue: After crunching the numbers, we've learned that's somehow lower than average over the past four fairs. Zoom in: This year's delicacies include the obvious corn dogs, cotton candy and candy apples, plus oddities like a sausage s'more skewer, fried gator and moonshine chicken. 4. 🪧 "Good Trouble Lives On" protests are coming April Rubin, Alissa Widman Neese Tens of thousands of people are expected to protest the Trump administration again tomorrow, on the fifth anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and former congressman John Lewis. Flashback: Lewis was one of the most vocal critics of President Trump during his first administration. He skipped Trump's 2017 inauguration — only the second Lewis missed during his three-decade tenure in Congress including former President George W. Bush's inauguration in 2001. Zoom in: Local events are scheduled in Delaware, Hilliard, Westerville, Reynoldsburg, Sunbury and in downtown Columbus. 5. 🕵️♀️ Alissa's first geocaching trip Alissa Widman Neese 👋 Alissa here. Inspired by Tyler's adventures in geocaching, I decided to "quickly" investigate a couple caches by my house yesterday. Reality check: I really underestimated how well these things are hidden, and it took me quite a while to find two beginner-level caches. I rage-quit and headed back to my car at both sites, thoroughly convinced the caches must no longer be around. Yes, but: After cooling off, I got back out and persevered, with a little help from their comment logs on the Geocaching website. Disclaimer: I'm going to share two spoilers, if you plan on searching the west side. My first stop: The San Margherita sign near the Belmont House apartments, to find a teeny, tiny magnetic capsule stuck to a park bench's underside, containing a paper log. It's a common tactic, Tyler tells me. He already found that one two weeks ago. The second: The El Vaquero on Riverside Drive, where it was cleverly hidden near the parking lot. I unknowingly circled around forever before finding it. My advice: Do more research than I did about what to expect when searching. I now understand how learning common hiding tactics would definitely help.
Hamilton Spectator
6 days ago
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Close call between a B-52 bomber and a commercial jet over North Dakota puts focus on small airports
The evasive action an airline pilot took to avoid a B-52 bomber in the skies over North Dakota has focused attention on the way small airport towers are often run by private companies without their own radars. Neither one of the pilots of the bomber or of the Delta Air Lines jet seemed to know the other plane was there before the airline pilot saw the B-52 looming in its path. The incident last Friday is still under investigation. But the Air Force has said the controller at the Minot airport didn't let the bomber's crew know about the airliner, and the SkyWest pilot flying the Delta flight told passengers he was surprised. Passengers were alarmed by the sharp turn and dive the pilot of Delta Flight 3788 executed to avoid the bomber that had just completed a flyover at the State Fair in Minot, and a video shot aboard the plane captured the pilot's explanation afterward. 'Sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise,' the pilot can be heard saying on the video posted on social media. 'This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads-up.' This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January's midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. Here's more about the way small airports like Minot operate: Many small airports lack radar It is common for small airports across the country to operate without their own radar systems because it would be too costly to install them at every airport. But there generally aren't many problems with that. The controllers at small airports are able to guide planes in to land visually with binoculars and radios as long as the weather is clear. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said if the weather is bad, a regional FAA radar facility may be able to help, but ultimately planes simply won't land if the weather is too bad. Sometimes small airport towers do have a video feed that gives controllers a view of a radar screen at an FAA facility miles away. Because the radar is so far away the display may not be as detailed about planes flying close to the ground, but the system does give controllers more information. It's not clear if the Minot tower has one of those systems because the company that runs it, Midwest Air Traffic Control Inc., hasn't responded to questions since the incident. The overlapping network of FAA radar facilities across the country also keeps track of planes flying between airports, and an approach control radar center in Minneapolis helps direct planes in and out of Minot before controllers at the airport take over once they see the planes. The Minot airport typically handles between 18 and 24 flights a day. That's how it works at many small airports. 'Most times it works just fine,' Guzzetti said. Some of these small airports could gain radar as part of a massive overhaul of the air traffic control system, but that will depend on how busy the airports are and how much funding Congress ultimately approves for the multibillion-dollar project. So far, $12.5 billion was included in President Trump's overall budget bill. Private companies operate the towers The FAA says that 265 airport towers nationwide are operated by companies as part of the contract system. The Transportation Department's Inspector General has said the contract towers that handle more than one quarter of the nation's flights are more cost effective than comparable FAA towers and have similar safety records. In some cases, local governments help pay the costs of contract towers. The program began in 1982 at five less busy towers that had closed because of the air traffic controller strike the previous year, and it has expanded significantly over the years because it has been so successful. Most of the airports with contract towers would have no controllers without the program. 'Common sense would tell you that having an extra set of eyes controlling the local traffic — especially in good weather — would be safer than having no controller and just having the pilots talking to each other,' Guzzetti said. That's exactly how it works at the vast majority of the 5,100 public airports nationwide that are smaller than Minot. Pilots at those uncontrolled airports use their radios to coordinate takeoffs and landings with other planes in the area. Only about 10% of all airports have towers. The FAA says it works closely with the companies that run contract towers to ensure their controllers are properly trained. It is easier to get certified at a contract tower because they handle fewer flights than FAA towers even though controllers are held to the same standard. More controllers are needed nationwide The ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers has persisted for years partly because it takes so long to train and certify new controllers. The FAA has said that it is roughly 3,000 short of the number of controllers it should have at its facilities. The staffing situation at private towers is similar because they hire from the same pool of candidates. All the roughly 1,400 controllers at these smaller airports have to meet the same qualification and training requirements. But contract towers also have the ability to hire controllers who retired from an FAA tower before the mandatory retirement age of 56. The contract towers don't have a retirement age. The FAA has been working for a long time to hire more air traffic controllers to replace retiring workers and handle growing air traffic. But it can be hard to find good candidates for the stressful positions who can complete the rigorous training. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced several efforts to hire and retain more controllers. The FAA is trying to shorten the time it takes between when someone applies to the air traffic controller academy in Oklahoma City and when they start training, and the agency is also trying to improve the graduation rate there by offering more support to the students. The candidates with the highest scores on the entrance exam are also getting top priority. The FAA is also offering bonuses to experienced controllers if they opt not to retire early and continue working to help ease the shortage. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
