The Beatles played here in 1964 - twice in one day, once in the Coliseum and once at the grandstand - on grounds that have hosted the Indiana State Fair since 1892. The Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center, at 1202 East 38th Street in Indianapolis, spans 250 acres and more than a million square feet of event space, hosting over 400 events a year. The campus opened on 19 September 1892 on the former Voss farm with 72 buildings, a 6,000-seat grandstand and a mile racetrack - the Track of Champions, still one of harness racing's storied miles. The State Fair, first held in 1852 at Military Park, has run here continuously ever since, drawing crowds approaching a million each August. The venues cover every scale: the art-deco Coliseum - opened in 1939 as a WPA project, restored for 63 million dollars in 2014 and now the Corteva Coliseum - seats about 6,500 for hockey, basketball and concerts; the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand seats 13,921 trackside; and pavilions, halls and barns from the Blue Ribbon Pavilion's 70,000 square feet downward host trade shows, sports and expositions year-round since the grounds became a full-time event centre in 1990. The history includes tragedy honestly borne: a 1963 propane explosion during a Holiday on Ice show killed 81 people and reshaped American public-assembly codes, and the 2011 grandstand stage collapse before a Sugarland concert killed seven - each followed by rebuilding and reform that changed industry safety practice. Practical notes: the fairgrounds sit at 38th Street and Fall Creek Parkway four miles north of downtown, with thousands of on-site parking spaces and year-round public events - from the Flower and Patio Show to gun shows, volleyball nationals and the fair itself each August. The 1990 pivot to year-round operation transformed the grounds' economics: winter brings the Indiana Flower and Patio Show and trade expositions, spring and fall fill the pavilions with volleyball nationals, gun shows and livestock expos, and the Coliseum hosts Indy Fuel hockey and college basketball - a 400-event calendar that makes the fair itself just the August crescendo. The 2025 partnership handing the renovated Hoosier Lottery Stage to promoter MOKB Presents extends the same logic to concerts, aiming the fairgrounds at the year-round touring market for the first time.

Type: Outdoors

Address: 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis, IN, United States, 46205

Website: https://www.indianastatefair.com

Cover Charge: 1

Opening Date: 19/09/1892

Serves Food

Outdoor Area

Accessible