The Illinois State Fair opens Thursday. Here's a preview

Illinois State Fair Manager Rebecca Clark recalled over the winter at a trade show hearing a story of how a little girl for years couldn't attend a fair even to feed the ducks because the stimulation was too overwhelming for her.

When the fair finally implemented some sensory friendly activities, the little girl and her family were able to make it out of the parking lot, fed the ducks and left.

The fair organizer, said Clark recalling the story, tried to summon the family back to the fair, but the parents explained that the fair had made the girl's day because she had been trying for years to feed the ducks.

Sensory friendly station, sunflower hours to be featured at the Illinois State Fair

That prompted Clark and her staff to look at what other state and county fair were doing for individuals who weren't able to participate in crowded social gatherings because of a wide range of sensory processing disorders.

The launching of "Sunflower Hours," creating a softer, calmer environment for children and adults with such disorders, and creating The Sensory Station for individuals and families who need help processing the sights, smells, noises and crowds, are among the new initiatives of the Illinois State Fair which kicks off Thursday and runs through Aug. 20.

Fairgoers will see other changes, along with encountering tried and true staples.

Ag Day moves to the first Friday of the fair, largely prompted by the start of school moving up around the state with the Sale of Champions shifting to Wednesday, which is Governor's Day.

The traditional ribbon cutting, led by Gov. JB Pritzker, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday and there will be a full slate of fair activities on the traditional first day of the fair, now County Fairs and Horse Racing Day.

Programming returns to the Multi-Purpose Arena, which underwent an $8.6 million overhaul last year. It will play host to a monster truck show, a rodeo, truck and tractor pulls and a demolition derby.

A new welcome sign at Peoria Road and Sangamon Avenue will greet fairgoers. The Route 66 Experience, a harbinger of the centennial of the Mother Road in 2026, gives fairgoers a chance to encounter towns and businesses along the route in Illinois via a walking tour.

The Grandstand will welcome acts like the Doobie Brothers, Alanis Morissette, Nelly and Tim McGraw.

Two dozen new food and merchandise vendors will dot the fairgrounds, said Clark.

The Butter Cow will return to the Dairy Building while workers were scraping paint on another State Fair tradition, the Giant Slide, on Preview Day Thursday.

Asked about the safety of the Grandstand track in light of the death of a five-year-old Altamont girl at the Effingham County Fair, Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II pointed out that state fair facilities "are much different than a lot of the other facilities. We have a concrete wall. We have tension cables. We have mesh that keeps debris from coming up off of the track, so totally different facilities than what you'll see at a lot of the county fairs."

Harper Finn died in St. Louis on Wednesday. She was sitting in the Grandstand while attending a harness racing event at the Effingham fair when the folding arm of the pace car malfunctioned.

There are five days of harness racing at the state fair, including a split card on Thursday.

Clark said the "Sunflower Hours" will extend from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, which is Kids Day.

The day includes a silent dance party at the Grand Central Stage at 10 a.m. Additionally, many of the rides in the carnival Midway and Adventure Village will be operating without the bright lights and loud sounds, Clark said.

Fairgoers utilizing the carnival rides during the "Sunflower Hours" will be required to be accompanied by a parent or caregiver. During "Sunflower Hours," state fair staff will be distributing stickers to those who identify with sensory processing difficulties.

"These stickers are visual cues to our staff and to our volunteers to help identify an individual or family who may need some additional assistance navigating the fair," Clark said.

The Sensory Station in the Emmerson Building, in what was previously known as Kids Corner, will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The dedicated quiet zone will include trained volunteers who can help individuals identify resources within the station to help them regroup and refocus, Clark said.

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The Sensory Station will be equipped with helpful tools such as noise cancelling headphones, calming pods and quiet activities to aid children and adults. Sensory bags can be checked out for use on the fairgrounds, Clark added.

Fair officials partnered with Hope School, Springfield Clinic and Serve Illinois on both initiatives.

The Multi-Purpose Arena, while not totally complete, Costello minded, will have all the seating useable.

Regarding the Coliseum, workers are in the second phase of redoing it, Costello said. The HVAC system will make it a year-round facility with new restrooms and concession stands, two elevators and ADA accessibility.

"(Around the fairgrounds) we're going to have to continue to replace roofs. We're going to have to replace roads," Clark added. "So being able to keep up and maintain these historic structures will take time and it's also going to be a continuous process."

Costello hoped moving Ag Day to the first Friday of the fair would drive attendance up.

"The start of school keeps moving up and that's been an issue as far as Ag Day at the fair," he acknowledged. "Most schools start Aug. 14 or after. Having Ag Day on Friday, we think, solves a lot of that problem. So many more of those kids, those parents, they're not going to have to take off school."

Clark, who helped flip the switch at the Route 66 Experience opening on July 27, said the neon signs "have really just changed the landscape of the state fairgrounds. When you're at that intersection, it looks completely different. We've complemented that with the new welcome sign outside of Gate 2."

Here's a look at what else is going on at the state fair:

Double your fun, double your fun

A new promotion will give fairgoers a way to double their fun.

Anyone who pays for parking on the fairgrounds on Thursday will receive a voucher for free parking which can be redeemed Aug. 15-17.

On Aug. 15, dubbed "Twosday," admission for adults and senior will be $2. Additionally, all carnival rides on the Midway will be $2.

Hair today...

The USA Mullet Championships will have a live qualifier at the state fair at the Grand Central Stage at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Fifteen finalists will face a panel of local judges.

The winner of Saturday's qualifier will earn a spot in the Top 25 for the Mane Event later this fall.

For more information, check out www.mulletchamp.com.

Harnessing the excitement

There will be five days of harness racing at the mile oval, deemed one of the fastest tracks in the world.

Opening day on Thursday will feature post times of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. All races on both cards will feature horses either conceived or foaled in Illinois.

On Friday and Saturday and Aug. 16-17, post times are 11 a.m.

"Our hope," Costello said, "is that those who have never experienced harness racing at the fair will come out and enjoy these races."

There will be parimutuel betting on all days.

Copious amounts of copi

For the first time, said Department of Natural Resources Director Natalie Phelps Finnie, Conservation World will feature sales copi menu items.

Copi is DNR's new consumer brand for various species of invasive carp that are plentiful in Illinois waterways, Phelps Finnie said. Since the launch of the copi brand in June 2022, commercial fishers have removed 17.4 million of pounds of the fish, she added.

A vendor from Grafton will be selling copi sliders, copi nuggets, copi empanadas and copi rangoon.

Mobile Museum of Tolerance returns

The Mobile Museum of Tolerance returns to the state fair and will be open daily (except Saturdays) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be located directly south of the Lincoln Stage.

The brainchild of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the museum offers visitors a chance to use their voices to speak up against bullying, racism, anti-Semitism, hate and intolerance. Since 2021, this one-of-a-kind free traveling mobile education center has reached tens of thousands of people and visited more than 200 schools.

Visitors will have a chance to view three different videos at the museum.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: The Illinois State Fair in Springfield runs August 10-20