This post is written by Sandi Combs, Marketing Coordinator for Experience Columbus. You can follow Sandi on Twitter at @Sandi_ExpCols .

There are only four more days until the state fair! One of the largest in the country, the Ohio State Fair offers 11 days of competitions, agricultural exhibitions, delicious food and top-notch entertainment. With so much to see and do, here’s an overview of all the ways to have fun.

Food: From American to Chinese to Mexican and more, you’re sure to find something to please your palate from at least one of the 189 food vendors. The Fair is also famous for the plethora of fried goodies available, from fried buckeyes to fried mashed potatoes. New foods for 2011 include: fried Kool Aid, frozen key lime pie on a stick, honey caramel ice cream, the Krispy Kreme burger (literally a hamburger between two donuts), and the pork parfait. The Fair’s new Food Finder can help you find what you crave! Text “FoodFind” to 82672 or download the free Mobile Food Finder app for Droid or iPhone.

Entertainment: Whether you seek the excitement of the more than 60 rides at the Mountain Dew Midway, or you prefer to browse the wares at the creative and find arts showcases, you’ll find plenty to do. There’s also a Kiddieland with a petting zoo and kid-friendly rides, a daily 4 p.m. parade, shopping, sports competitions, livestock showcases and much more. It’s also worth mentioning the Fair’s Concert & Event Series. This year’s performers include Ke$ha, Journey, Brad Paisley, Melissa Ethridge, Meat Loaf, Seether, Trace Adkins, plus many others. Complete attraction information is here .

What’s New: For the first time since 2007, the Fair will have nightly fireworks at 9:45 p.m. Also, this year marks the first time since the Fair has been at the Ohio Expo Center that Ohio beer and wine will be sold. New attractions include the live shark encounter exhibit, as well as the limited-time Civil War Encampment on the DiSalle Lawn.

Personally, I’m looking forward to trying the frozen key lime pie on a stick, riding the Ferris wheel and seeing the sharks at the shark encounter. Here’s what others say are their favorite things to see, do or eat (via Twitter):

@Lexi_Sweet - People watching is the best! Love lemon shake-ups & always eat in the Ohio Agriculture building. #ohiostatefair

@debbie_piper - the Ohio State Fair is magical because of the food! The swirly cotton candy, the corn dogs, root beer, corn, french fries!

@CaRinn - Seeing all the wonderful things that skilled ohioans have made!

@ladonnablair - I love seeing the farm animals and can’t wait to attend this yrs ohio state fair.

Visit the Fair’s website for complete information to plan your visit, and let us know what you’re looking forward to most!

Ohio State Fair

Festival season continues in Columbus, and so do the giveaways.

Like we mentioned last month , members of the Greater Columbus Events Council are helping us celebrate lots of events by sharing lots of prizes.

This time, we’re featuring July and August happenings, and the ante is definitely upped: FIVE LUCKY READERS will win the following:

• A North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival package, which includes a $20 North Market gift certificate and 2 entries to the preview party
• A VIP parking pass to Jazz & Rib Fest
• 2 tickets to the Ohio State Fair
• 2 tickets to the Dublin Irish Festival
  

To win is easy:

Simply leave a comment below, and name at least one July or August Columbus festival or special event you plan to attend this year. If you need a few ideas, visit this list of Greater Columbus Events Council members.

One entry per person, please. All entries must be posted by noon on Tuesday, July 6 . After that, we’ll randomly select five winners who are going to have a lot of fun this summer. Good luck!

P.S. Don’t forget the third and final giveaway:

Stay tuned for the last prize package, which we’ll give away in August. Check back or subscribe to this blog via your RSS reader or email to receive updates.

UPDATE (7/6): The winners have been selected and are posted in the comments. Congrats!

Photo: Randall Lee Schieber

When I moved to Columbus last year, my Dad had a good excuse to make his first trip to the Ohio State Fair . Yesterday, we made our way to the Ohio Expo Center for a night of fried food, unusual entertainment and people watching.

While I have been to my share of fairs, the size alone made this a new experience. Rows upon rows of food vendors, rides and game booths filled the fairgrounds. Buildings throughout were hosting horse competitions, cow milking demonstrations, pig races and even a Kenny Rogers concert.

My favorite surprise of the evening was stumbling upon the “Wild About Monkeys” show. It featured a man performing rehearsed scenes with two different baboons. Both have acted in films such as Evan Almighty and on TV shows like the Jay Leno Show. The baboons would banter back and forth with the man on cue, creating a funny and mind-boggling show for the audience.

It was the food, however, that really made the fair experience. There were the typical favorites (funnel cakes, french fries and everything on a stick), the nostalgic (for me it’s the Flavor Burst ice cream I loved as a kid), and the outrageous (deep fried Twinkies, s’mores and peanut butter buckeyes—if you can fry it, you can find it here).

If you’re going to go, make it soon - the fair only runs through August 9.  More details can be found on their Web site .