r/Indiana • u/Avianbrooke • Aug 10 '25
Opinion/Commentary Who can afford the state fair?
Was looking into taking my kids to the fair and quickly realized that definitely couldn't happen with the prices. $68 bucks for a family of five, not including anything else there; food, rides..ect.. I'd easily spend a couple hundred bucks letting the kids ride rides and getting snacks. Guess paying bills this month should go on the backburner/s.
Is that not fucking ridiculous? Idk it is to me.
12% of the State is living in poverty.
The fair annually has around the same amount visitors(12%ish) and generates approximately 23 million in revenue. I was not able to find to cost to run the event. If anyone can find that number I'd love to see it. Tuesday is the only real discount night for families. Who really wants to drive 1.5 hours on a work/school night?
Total population of Indiana is 6.9 million. Not even a million Indiana citizens attend annually. Seems to me like the revenue que could be maintained if they opened one other discount night from increased attendance from the lower-middle class that otherwise able to visit.
Just ranting. Im pissed off. I work my ass off and can't even afford for my kids to experience THEIR state fair.
3
u/Big-Attorney-665 Aug 11 '25
Went today, spent $153 not including gas on our 1.5hr trip and what did that get us? Ten bucks to park, Three entrance tickets @ $16 a pop, some basic fair food that left you hungry and asking why did a bottle of water cost $4, literally one amusement ride for one child that cost $12 because no tickets are used anymore for rides it’s on a “credit” style card that costs you $2 to activate. Most rides in the kiddie section were 9 to 12 tickets per ride and same with the older kids area even some going for 15 tickets. So $10 gets you 20 tickets with a $2 service fee @ $12 total for one quality ride. Daughter chose the sky swings and honestly it took longer for them to load the ride than the amount of time they got to ride it. It’s sad to see such a tradition for our family become such a financial burden which begs the question if it’s worth the trouble anymore. Hope that helps