2024 Media Information
Credential registration - required for Fair access
We welcome the chance to work with your station or publication. Registering for the Ohio State Fair is easy for members of the media. Simply register using the media credential registration form on the right-hand side. All registrants will be added to our media database. No follow up communication or confirmation from the Fair’s PR department is required. You will only be contacted if there is a question or concern regarding your registration.
No media credentials will be mailed in advance of the Ohio State Fair. All media are required to check-in daily at the Ohio State Fair Media Center (see below).
We kindly request that all media that are provided admission credentials submit a press clipping or audio/video clip within two weeks of the closing of the Fair. Clippings may be submitted electronically as scans, URL links, or mailed as hard copies. Failure to provide proof of coverage may result in loss of media center privileges. Please submit links, clippings, and audio/video clips to j.west@expo.ohio.gov.
Media Center Check-in Procedures
The Ohio State Fair Media Center will be operational from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m., daily, July 24 – Aug. 4 (except for Aug. 4, when it closes at 6 p.m. along with the Fair’s admission gates), or by appointment. All members of the media must check in here to receive parking and admission credentials before entering the Fair. No parking or admission passes for working media will be mailed in advance.
Upon check-in, members of the media will be escorted throughout the grounds by a member of the Fair’s marketing and PR staff. All working members of the media must adhere to the Fair’s media escort policy.
You can access the Media Center from the 11th Avenue exit from I-71. General public and visitors to the Ohio State Fair use the 17th Avenue exit.
As in the past, the Media Center will be located on 11th Avenue, just west of the OHIO Gate. All working news media and promotions personnel should register and park at this location upon arriving at the Fair. For your convenience, the Media Center will provide a phone, internet access, and an air-conditioned room for you to work or relax in. Fair schedules will also be provided daily, as well as feature ideas and assistance in obtaining interviews.
Open the Media Center's GPS Location in Google Maps
Approximately 25 parking spots are available for use by working media at the Media Center. In addition, we will provide some overflow parking in the Pavilion Lot (Gate 9), located east of the Voinovich Center. Please note parking is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. If all media spots are full, you will be routed to general parking in the North Lot (off 17th Avenue).
A few golf carts are kept at the Media Center and can be used for transportation of equipment on a first-come, first-served basis. For liability reasons, carts can only be driven by Ohio State Fair employees. Access to the Fair on carts is limited to the golf cart path, which travels the Fair’s perimeter. No carts are allowed in pedestrian areas. The Ohio State Highway Patrol will enforce this policy.
Media Escort Policy
In an effort to ensure a quality experience for fairgoers and members of the media, media personnel covering events and stories during the Ohio State Fair must wear a media credential badge provided by the Ohio State Fair and must
be escorted by a Ohio Expo Center & State Fair marketing & PR representative. The representatives will be available to answer general questions (off the record), coordinate interviews, and transport members of the media.
Media Partnerships
The Ohio State Fair welcomes the opportunity to work with your media outlet for a strategic, mutually-beneficial partnership. If you are interested in becoming a media partner, please reach out to Jess West at j.west@expo.ohio.gov. You will be assigned a summer coordinator who will work with you on ticket giveaways, promotional needs, space access at the Ohio State Fair, and more. All media partners will be provided with additional information including detailed on-site guidelines with procedures for electrical access, tents, set-up, and more.
Media Vehicles at the Ohio State Fair
Media partners working with us have the opportunity to promote their station or organization at the Fair! Stations wishing to bring a vehicle for the purposes of promotion or filming must coordinate with the marketing and PR department. All promotional vehicles parked in pedestrian areas must be moved by 9 a.m. the following day. Vehicles located in pedestrian areas must be escorted off grounds by a member of the marketing and PR department.
Vehicles near the WCOL Celeste Center cannot be moved from the time that doors open prior to the start of a concert or show (usually 90 minutes prior to show time), and cannot be moved immediately following a concert until all fairgoers have exited the building.
All promotional vehicles must be staffed during Fair hours.
Each station or organization assumes responsibility for all of their equipment, including vehicles, while on the grounds.
All media partners with an on-site presence will work with a summer coordinator, who will provide them with the Fair’s on-site guidelines that must be followed at all times.
Photography/Videography Policy
The Ohio Expositions Commission reserves the right to use photographs and video of any and all individuals taken on grounds for purposes including but not limited to advertising and promotion. The Ohio Expositions Commission may edit, alter, copy, exhibit, publish and distribute this photo for purposes as it sees fit. By entering the grounds, visitors agree that their photo or likeness may be used.
All individuals seeking permission to obtain photos or videos at the Ohio State Fair for publicity or commercial gain must register as a member of the media, review and agree to the on-site guidelines for media, and obtain media credentials prior to photographing or filming at the Ohio State Fair.
All individuals or crews taking still photographs or video footage must be self-contained and “mobile” with no free-standing equipment such as lights, backdrops, electrical cords, etc. unless prior approved is provided by the Marketing & PR Director.
For safety purposes, no livestock animals may be relocated to the general areas of the fair (such as the Midway or Kiddieland near rides, or along the Food Highway among food vendors and concessionaires) without prior authorization.
See below for WCOL Celeste Center photo and video policy.
WCOL Celeste Center Media Guidelines
The only way to guarantee a seat for a paid concert is to purchase a ticket. All review seat requests must be coordinated through each individual artist. If you have a review seat request, please email it to j.west@expo.ohio.gov, who will assist in coordinating review with artist management.
All media members approved for review seats must check in at the Ohio State Fair Media Center. A review seat ticket will be provided upon checking in. All approved review seat requests will include one ticket unless an additional ticket is requested in initial email request.
We request that all publications send a clip of their review to j.west@expo.ohio.gov within two weeks of the show. Clippings can be submitted as URL links or scans.
Still and Video Photography Policy
All still and video photography requests for concerts in the WCOL Celeste Center are subject to the approval of each artist's management team. If your station or publication wishes to send a photographer or videographer to a concert, please contact Jess West at j.west@expo.ohio.gov with your request. Your request will be forwarded to artist management for review, and you will be contacted once your request has been reviewed.
If approved, a member of the public relations staff will meet you at the media center and inform you of the artist’s photo policy at the WCOL Celeste Center. Each artist’s policy is different. Still photographers will be escorted to designated areas per each artist’s specific policy, usually either near the stage or the mezzanine. Videographers will be escorted to a press box at the base of the mezzanine. The public relations staff will advise photographers when the allotted time for coverage is over. All members of the media will then be escorted out of the WCOL Celeste Center unless they hold a ticket for the show.
Interviews and Backstage Policy
All interviews and backstage access must be arranged through the artist’s management. The Fair public relations staff can provide contact names and phone numbers upon request. Please notify the public relations staff office of what arrangements have been made prior to the show date. Notification must be sent, with confirmation from artist management, no less than one week prior to the show date.
No on-site interviews or backstage passes were issued for the 2022 Ohio State Fair.