Why the Ionia Free Fair is free at the gate

The useful word in Ionia Free Fair is “free,” but it needs a little explaining. There is no general ticket to enter the fairgrounds. That does not make the whole visit free. Parking, midway rides, food, and many grandstand events are sold separately. You can walk in and look around without buying a gate ticket, then decide which extras are worth paying for.

That idea goes back to 1915. The earlier Ionia District Fair had dissolved after financial trouble. At a February business meeting, Mayor Fred Green proposed an admission-free fair and a local committee took up the plan. The first Ionia Free Fair followed that August. Green later became governor, but in this story he was the mayor trying a new way to get the whole community through the gate.

The modern fair runs for ten days in July. Its schedule mixes a midway and marketplace with livestock sales, open-class exhibits, a parade, local entertainment, and ticketed grandstand shows. The lineup, hours, parking choices, and pass prices change from year to year. Check the current schedule and ticket page before you leave home, especially if a particular ride or grandstand event is the reason you are going.