Return of Franklin County Fair a success

HILLIARD, Ohio (WCMH) – With the Ohio State Fair returning next week, Sunday marked the end of the 2022 Franklin County Fair in Hilliard.

Despite bad weather and rising COVID-19 numbers, organizers said this year’s attendance numbers were high.

“It’s been great,” said Franklin County Fairgrounds Manager Amy Fleshman. “We have had pre-COVID numbers, where we’ve been very pleased with the turnout.”

Fleshman credits the turnout to new weekday interactive activities introduced this year.

“There was a collective community that came together, that really created a lot of hand-on activities and it was amazing,” Fleshman said.

Some of those activities included building model cars with Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies.

Fleshman also credits the turnout to a safe and clean environment.

“I feel like we provide a very healthy environment,” she said. “There’s plenty of space. We have hand sanitizers, we have amazingly clean bathrooms that we know are very important to a lot of our families.”

But the fair fun isn’t ending in central Ohio. The Ohio State Fair, held at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, kicks off Wednesday, July 27.