While the2026 Ohio State Fair is about fun, food and thrills for the whole family, safety may be the most important contributing factor to the event's success.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol provides security services for the state fair, with other law enforcement, like Columbus Division of Police, handling situations outside the fair.
"This is the largest concentration of state troopers that you're going to see in one given area, at any given time," Lt. Brice Nihiser said at a July 28 press conference.
Traditionally, the state fair sees 900,000 visitors, Alicia Shoults, deputy director of experience operations for the fair, said at the press conference. Prominent safety concerns for this year include teen takeovers and car break-ins.
State fair enforcing chaperone rule
Teen takeovers
refer to large groups of teenagers gathering in public areas and causing disorder. In early June, around 500-800 middle and high schoolers were socializing at the St. Catherine Fun Festwhen fights broke out and eleven people were arrested. The event was shut down.
"With the teen takeovers and everything else, we want everyone to have a safe experience at the fair," Nihiser said. "Just simply put, we're not going to tolerate those takeovers where it gets violent, where they're disrupting other people's time at the fair."
Large groups of people gathering in one area and disrupting foot traffic will be broken up, Nihiser said. After 6 p.m., minors have to be accompanied by someone who's 21 or older that's either a parent, legal guardian or an adult the minor knows.
"If it's after 6 p.m., and we escort [a minor] off state grounds, we're making sure they're reconnected with a parent or guardian or another adult," Nihiser said. "And if it's a crime, then we're investigating that crime."
The unaccompanied minor policy has been effective for the past three years, Alicia Shoults, deputy director of experience operations for the state fair and Ohio Expo Center, said at the press conference.
"We're not necessarily looking around for a youth who's unaccompanied at 6 p.m.," Shoults said. "However, if we see an individual who's causing problems and they're not with their adult chaperone, then they are going to be addressed."
Additional security measures to prevent car break-ins
People are encouraged to not leave any valuables in their vehicles, Shoults said. However, she acknowledged that sometimes people can break into cars when valuables aren't visible.
To combat this issue, the fair has installed additional security cameras to better patrol the property and the parking lots.
Shoults encourages fairgoers to park on the fairgrounds or take advantage of the free park-and-ride system. From Columbus State Community College, people can park and ride a shuttle to the fair.
Firearms allowed at the fair
When entering the state fair, people will be checked at the gate. Nihiser said he recommends fairgoers to leave firearms in their vehicles or at home.
"It's not that you're not allowed to have them on the grounds or anything like that, but we're recommending that you leave them there," Nihiser said. "It's just going to be safer for everybody that way."
What to do if children get lost
The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be manning lost kids booths, located inside all of the main entrances to the fairgrounds, Shoults said.
Parents can obtain wristbands or stickers for their child to wear to help identify them. Families are encouraged to set a family reunification plan using state fair landmarks, Shoults said.
Parents should take a photo of their child before entering the fair to have an image of what they are wearing that day, Nihiser said.
The state fair runs from July 29 to Aug. 9 at 717 E. 17th Ave.
Dispatch Reporter Nora Igelnik can be reached at nigelnik@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Fair to crack down on teen takeovers, increase parking surveillance
