HOI fair...anyone gone yet? on the Peoria.com Forums

New director. Making changes. Air conditioning to the Opera house and Saving Abel and another group will play there. I miss the days of the music from the grandstand. I wish they could bring that back. They could get better acts like the state fair gets if they had a bigger seating venue.

Since when don't they use the grandstands?

I went to the HOI Fair. About 18 or 20 years ago. Didn't lose anything there, so I haven't been back.

@PeoriaIllinoisan:

Been several years. Now they have an entertainment tent. Couldnt imagine to pay and sit in a hot tent for entertainment. I've went by it in previous years and the sides are all down so you cant see in.. Heard they put air conditioning in the Opera house this year and a couple groups are gonna play there.

Hot, dirty, crowded? Think I will stay home and avoid the area of the HOI Fair entirely.

We will go if it cools down at least ten degrees.

Never been, and never plan to go.

@JnJ:



A couple days of about 100 then its suppose to be 90's til next monday. Im passing on this year. Will wait for state fair. Probably be 110 in August!!!! lol.....

I remember growing up how exciting it was when the fair came to town. It seemed like everybody went. It was crowded. There were lots of rides and vendors. The rides were always provided by the The Mighty Bluegrass Shows and featured the SkyWheel (double-ferris wheel), the Himalaya, Dream Machine (swings), a mini roller coaster, and lots of others. Shows at the grandstand were fantastic. They had national acts, and the show was included in the price of admission. Plus all of the agricultural/animal displays and contests. It was really a big deal. It was hard to find a place to park; there was regularly overflow parking across Northmoor.

Last year I went, and you could have shot off a cannon and hit neither vendor nor fairgoer. There were hardly any cars in the lot. There weren't many rides, and the ones they did have weren't very exciting. There weren't a lot of vendors. There aren't any big acts for entertainment anymore and they don't even use the grandstand. They still had the agricultural/animal stuff, which was good.

Overall, though, the HOI Fair today is pretty much a bust. I'm not going back.

You pretty much said it CJ. I remember seeing Ray Stevens singing the streak and JJ Walker as I was a kid. I think Boxcar Willie was even there...lol. All were popular acts at the time. They even picked up a guy from the top of the double farris wheel via a trapeze bar hanging under a helicopter and they dropped him off by the stage at the grandstand.
The midway was soo much more with all the side shows. There was alot of t shirt vendors and people selling leather goods and jewelry. I remember as a kid mom and dad would meet friends dad worked with and drink a beer at the beer tent. Which at 8 oclock was PACKED FULL.. A few years ago I went to the tracltor pulls and came down to the beer tent about this time and there wasnt 20 people in there.
Back in the day we always went to the back gate cause the front was always full. Last time I went I drove in the front gate and parked in the second or third row.

Do they still charge extra to see the concerts or is it included in your admission?

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@dirtycap2:

Yeah I'm starting to see the writing on the wall. The kids asked about it again too, and I'm afraid we aren't going to make it. I feel kind of sad about it.