“Celebrating the Hoosier Spirit”- that’s the theme of this year’s Indiana State Fair. Governor Eric Holcomb spoke to farmers and members of the ag industry at Friday morning’s annual Indiana Pork Ham Breakfast to kick off the Indiana State Fair. He says Hoosier farmers are resilient, generous, and embody the Hoosier spirit they’re celebrating at this year’s fair.
“Their, not just call to action, but their arrival on the scene from day one, the folks in this room and the associations that they represent, from day one, said, ‘How can we help?’ Just a giving spirit. The very thing that we’re recognizing here at the state fair, for good reason. It means just the world. I mean, we had each other to get to this point, and the spirit of optimism that exudes out of that room is infectious in a good way.”
He says it was good to bump into old friends he hadn’t seen in a while.
The fair in 2019 attracted over 875,000 visitors. With organizers hopeful to eclipse that number this year, is Holcomb concerned about the COVID-19 Delta variant spreading at the fairgrounds? He says they’ll be watching it, but this is a time for personal responsibility.
“The role of our state government is to provide the opportunity and we’ve made it easy. We have tried to remove every barrier for individuals to be safe, to be vaccinated. Go to www.ourshot.in.gov if you want to find out how to get vaccinated. If you’ve got any question under the sun, call 211 and we will remove those barriers. We have provided the resources and the tools for Hoosiers to be safe and to feel safe here at the fair. And we’ve taken some precautions here as well. We encourage people, if you do not feel safe for any reason, then you should wear a mask. That is one way to add another extra layer of, not just peace of mind, but safety. But if you’re vaccinated, we encourage you to come out to the greatest state fair in the country.”
The Indiana State Fair is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the duration of the fair.