The 150th Indiana State Fair's signature food will be deep-fried chocolate-covered strawberries. Fairgoers will get to sample these fresh strawberries, which are skewered, battered and deep fried before being topped with chocolate sauce, powdered sugar and more strawberries. Some of the other finalist foods that will be served include: Deep-fried Sauerkraut Balls, Cool Dog, Cream-filled Fried Puff Balls, and Caramel-Popcorn Pie.
A gigantic two-story birthday cake celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Fair will cover the fairgrounds' Gazebo Gift Shop located in the heart of the Fairgrounds' 250 acres. It will be adorned with oversized candles and icing, and should serve as a great backdrop for once-in-a-lifetime family photos.
Sarah Kaufmann, a.k.a. "The Cheese Lady," carves cheese into beautiful pieces of art all across the U.S. While she has sculpted hundreds of figures, the Cheese Gallery features some of the best and most notable carvings.
Check out www.sarahcheeselady.com to see some amazing examples of her work. The world's best ice sculptor, Aaron Costic, has ranked in the top three at the last three world ice carving championships. He was also the recipient of the gold medal at the Turin Cultural Olympics in 2006 in Italy. Costic has 17 years of ice sculpting experience and is out of Broadview Heights, Ohio,
Indianapolis will also host the "World's Largest Drive-thru Breakfast" during the State Fair on Friday, August 11th. A mere $3 gets you a breakfast of champions. With the help of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association and the Indiana Poultry Association, and Milk Promotions Services of Indiana you can receive a steak and egg burrito, coffee, juice and milk as well as a complimentary admission ticket for the second week of the fair and other discount coupons to be used at the fair. All proceeds go to the 4-H Education Complex Renovations, so not only are you getting a great breakfast, you're helping a great cause.
The Chow Down Championship will be held on Saturday, August 19th. This eating contest is a first for the State Fair. You'll be amazed at how much food the chow down contestants can consume. You won't want to miss this exciting competition in which the contestants compete to see who can eat the most fair food. It will go from 5p-7p at the 104.5 JACK-FM Main Street stage.
Howard Helmer is the World's Fastest Omelet Maker. In 1990, he made 427 omelets in 30 minutes to set a Guinness World Record! He will be at the Indiana State Fair Aug 17 - 19 at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Our Land Pavilion where he will whip up great-tasting omelets at incredible speeds, all while entertaining the audience with his own special brand of comedy. Believe it or not, he can make an omelet in 40 seconds!
The Giant Pumpkin Contest will be held Saturday, August 19th Last year's winner weighed in at more than 1000 pounds! This year, in addition to being weighed and displayed on the street in front of the Agriculture/Horticulture Building, the pumpkins will also be sculpted during a two-day event.
Also right before the fair, one of the largest WINE COMPETITIONS anywhere will take place July 27-29th. It's called the Indy International Wine Competition, which is the 3rd largest in the country (on the verge of becoming 2nd largest as they expect to have over 3,800 wines entered). The American Airlines Best of Show from last year was Michael-David Vineyards out of Lodi, California. The wine was "6th Sense" Syrah 2003. The Governor's Cup last year was Oliver Winery out of Bloomington (closed competition).
However, the public can sample at The Taste of Indiana (Aug. 2nd, 6-9pm at the Blue Ribbon Bldg.). There, the winners are displayed and promoted, the wineries all come and serve wine. Indiana commodity groups provide the food.
Tickets are $25. Call (317) 927-1482 for ticket information. For Wine Competition please visit www.IN.gov/iwc
The C & H Sugar Special Contest really is special. Cookies in this competition are baked by adults and judged by children. Every cookie is made with C & H Sugar and then judged according to "the likes and dislikes of children," which can be pretty tough to determine. The contest is Friday, Aug 11 in the Clarian Home & Family Arts building.
Every year at the Indiana State Fair, people consume approximately:
- 14,000 pounds of pork chops
- 14,285 pounds of hot dogs
- 56,000 rib eye steaks
- 37,160 milkshakes
- 20,000 dips of ice cream
- 10,459 Deep Fried Snickers
- 4,350 pounds of Weaver popcorn
- 3,360 pounds of smoked sausage
Other State Fair food tidbits:
Traditional Fair food such as corn, cinnamon rolls, Hoosier Rib eye steak sandwiches, lemon shake-ups, milk shakes, potato chips, hot dogs, pork chops, apples, hamburgers, and funnel cakes are served to hungry Fairgoers every year. Did you know that in 1930, a frankfurter cost only ten cents? Fish cost a mere 15 cents and a lemonade or coffee cost 10 cents. Back in the 1870's, one of the best-known concessionaires on the Fairgrounds was Mrs. Jessop, better known as the "Lady Confectioner." Her rise to fame at the State Fair came as a result of her delicious salt-water taffy. She carried her candy-making
equipment from one fair to another in a trunk. Her name was familiar all over the country for her "pure" and original candy and for a clean booth. Mrs. Jessop died in 1916, but a fifth generation of Jessops still sells taffy at the Fair.
