Teddy bear repair
POLARIS FASHION PLACE, 1500 POLARIS PARKWAY
Contact: 614-846-1500, polarisfashionplace.com
Details: Youngsters can bring their teddy bears to the fountain near the Cheesecake Factory to have tears repaired and buttons replaced.
Time: 10:30 a.m. to noon Friday
Admission: free
‘Cinderella KIDS’
PARK STREET THEATRE, 512 PARK ST.
Contact: 614,469-0939, columbuschildrenstheatre. org
Details: The advanced performance academy at the Columbus Children's Theatre will stage the 30-minute adaptation of the Disney movie.
Showtimes: 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m., noon and 2:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 4
Tickets: $5 to $15
Canal Winchester Blues & Ribfest
HIGH AND WATERLOO STREETS
Contact: 614-270-5053, www.bluesandribfest.com
Details: The two-day street festival features live blues music, five barbecue vendors, a beer-and-wine garden and a children's area.
Hours: 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday
Admission: free
Game night
BATTELLE DARBY CREEK METRO PARK,
2705 DARBY CREEK DRIVE
Contact: 614-508-8111, www.metroparks.net
Details: A selection of games, both tabletop and active, will be available for children to play in the nature center.
Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday
Admission: free
Serbian Festival
ST. STEVAN OF DECHANI SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, 1840 N. CASSADY AVE.
Contact: 614-475-0922, ststevanofdechani.org
Details: The annual festival is filled with traditional dishes plus music and dancing.
Hours: noon to 10 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $5, or free for children age 12 and younger
For the first time, the state fair will feature a human cannonball. The 20- to 25-minute show will feature Brian Miser, who recently appeared on "America's Got Talent." His daughter, Skyler, an aerialist, will also perform.
Brian Miser, 55, known as the "Human Fuse," will be shot 100 feet in distance and 40 feet high at 1, 4 and 7 p.m.
In his hometown of Peru, Indiana, 8-year-old Brian would go to an amateur circus for kids. By the time he was 14, Miser knew he wanted to be a trapeze artist and would spend his class time daydreaming about high-flying adventure. After graduating from high school, he went on to become a professional trapeze artist before becoming a human cannonball.
"I have had broken bones and injuries, but I keep coming back," he said. "I like it too much to give it up."
Miser has been shot out of a cannon 7,000 times, but he still enjoys the thrill.
Skyler, 15, might have every teenager's dream job: firing her father out of a cannon. Brian prefers to keep the workings of the cannon a secret, but while he is in the barrel, he will tense every muscle in his body to brace for impact when he is shot in the air. While Brian has performed in Ohio dozens of times, this will be his first time performing at the state fair.
"It’s exciting to be able to hurtle through the air when everything goes right," Miser said. "It is an awesome feeling to be able to perform and entertain people and let them see something that is kind of rare."
Fair food
Maybe the fair is the one time a year you can splurge on, say, a funnel cake or a corn dog, but fairgoers don't live by traditional fair eats alone.
Officials report that more than 40 never-beforeeaten-at-the-fair dishes will be available this year. Here are several of the more exotic treats and where to find them:
• Chocolate deviled eggs: You never had this at Grandma's house: A smoked hard-boiled egg is filled with
chocolate mousse (Ohio Poultry Association, Taste of Ohio Cafe)
• Deep-fried macaroni and cheese on a stick: Orbs of mac and cheese are deep-fried and skewered for mobile dining. (First National Bank of Hot Dogs, east side of the Giant Slide)
• Flamin' Hot Cheeto corn dog: For the adventurous: The spicy, cheesy snack is crushed and added to a corndog batter that coats the wiener, which is deep-fried and served with hot sauce and nacho cheese sauce. Or, diners can order a regular hot dog topped with the snack and nacho cheese sauce. (Tracey Company, 17th Avenue)
• Puckering pickle pops: Sour rather than sweet, the frozen pops are made with pickle juice. While you're there, order some deep-fried tofu, because we all go to the fair to eat healthfully. (KG Concessions, north of Nationwide Donahey Land & Living Building)
• Sriracha peanutbutter crunch doughnuts: A doughnut is coated with a peanut-butter glaze and a brittle made from the Thai hot sauce and topped with
crunchy chocolate and pretzels. (Inky Dinky Doughnuts, 17th Avenue, across from the Sheep Barn)
• Skyline Tots: Potato tots are smothered in Skyline chili and shredded cheese. (The Tot Spot, north of Nationwide Donahey Land & Living Building)
New rides
Texas-based Talley Amusements Inc. will be the new ride provider for the fair.
Talley will bring about 80 rides to be divided among the midway and kiddieland. Highlights include a brandnew Giant Wheel, a 108-foot tall Ferris wheel; Mega Drop, a 120-foot drop tower; the traditional Tilt-a-whirl; and the Skyline Swing Tower, a new 100-foot tall swing ride. Visitors can slide down the Fast Trax, the largest mobile slide in the United States, said Mary Talley, vice president and chief financial officer of Talley.
The change comes after a 2017 incident in which a Fire Ball ride broke apart, killing an 18-year-old man and injuring six others, one of whom died in September 2018. That same month, the fair fired the ride operator, Amusements of America, and awarded a fouryear contract to Talley.
"Safety is our No. 1 priority," Talley said. "Creating smiles and fun is No. 2."
Accessibility
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, visitors on the autism spectrum and their families will be able to experience rides without flashing lights or music, relax in a quiet break room or use the fair's accessibility guide to see what fair experience suits them.
The Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence worked with the state fair to find ways to make the fair experience more enjoyable and accessible for individuals, said Shawn Henry, executive director of OCALI.
"The fair is about community engagement and community participation," Henry said. "These considerations really make it about the entire community and everyone having the opportunity to participate."
In addition to the sensoryfriendly morning, there will be more stations for recharging motorized wheelchairs, and a system similar to Google Maps will be available for people who are blind to help them navigate the fairgrounds.
"We really appreciate the fair's effort to be leading in the nation in becoming an accommodating fair," Henry said. "They will be blazing a trail — with other state fairs and county fairs following in their footsteps — which focuses on our mission of promoting access."