New law allows alcohol at participating county fairs in Indiana

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s fair season and a new law uncorks adult beverage sales!

The new Indiana law will go into effect July 1st, making it legal to sell alcohol at county fairs.

The Kosciusko County Fair is set to kick off in just a few weeks and Indiana is officially allowing alcohol to be sold.

The law is bringing back something that’s not necessarily new to this fair.

Here’s what you need to know

The new law will go into effect on July 1st. It officially allows county fairs to apply for fee-free permits to sell alcohol.

Officials with the Kosciusko County Fair say they are participating this year. They are implementing the same guidelines they used when they sold alcohol just at grandstand events.

The difference now is, you can walk around the grounds with your drink. But strict guidelines will be in place for purchasing a drink.

“Actually, we’ve never had any issues. Because we card everybody, so we take that seriously. We also got the ID guides so we can identify the different types of IDs,” said Sheal Dirck, Treasurer of Kosciusko County Fair.

The Kosciusko County Fair already have guidelines in place, so this was an easy transition for the fair.

They will be the only vendors selling alcohol, which will make it easier to control distribution.

The sales will also bring in more revenue.

“Hopefully it allows to keep our ticket prices where they are because right now, insurance, utilities and everything else is going sky high and it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Dirck.

However, some fairs cannot participate because of the July 1st start date, like the Pulaski County Fair, which is going on right now. Pulaski County officials said it is on the agenda for next year. Whereas other fairs are choosing to sit this year out.

“We wanted not spend some time to, to see what that really means for us. It was not a decision we wanted to rush into. But we are happy for the option of it,” said Shelly Steury, GM of Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.

Leaders at the St. Joseph County and Elkhart County Fairs said neither of them are selling alcohol.

The Kosciusko County Fair is the only fair that will sell alcohol in our area this year.