State Fair announces new foods for 2024 Taste of the Fair

Have you been thinking more foods ought to be deep-fried? Is there a dill pickle-shaped hole in your diet? Do your culinary preferences verge on depraved?

If so, the 2024 Indiana State Fair was made for you.

Taste of the Fair 2024

The Fair's annual "Taste of the Fair" contest is back, bringing several colorful entries to the Fairgrounds from Aug. 2-18. The 43-dish lineup features carnival classics like deep-fried Golden Oreos and fried ice cream, unusual in most contexts but relatively pedestrian at this year's Fair.

Take Urick Concessions' All-American Mary, a Bloody Mary whose garnishes include but are not limited to fried macaroni and cheese, a cheeseburger slider and a mini apple pie. Then there are Urick's peanut butter and jelly chicken wings, not to be confused with Red Frazier Food Truck's smoked chicken wings, which come with Kool-Aid-infused pickles.

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If you prefer your pickles free of Kool-Aid, you can find them in seven other dishes including dill pickle Dr. Pepper, a dill pickle lemon shake-up, spicy pickle pizza and a special-edition State Fair Pickle Beer, courtesy of Sun King Brewing.

Blueberries make an appearance in both the Blue Ribbon Blueberry Milkshake from the American Dairy Association and the Bakerman's Blueberry Cheesecake Stuffed Elephant Ear.

The Fair will also feature three versions of nachos and two funnel cakes. Barbecue sauce makes an appearance in six separate dishes.

If you can't decide whether you like sweet or savory, you can sample the Sweet Chili Suga Daddy Sub from the Gobble Gobble Food Truck that features chili turkey meatballs placed inside a donut. Meat and donuts also meet up in the Meatball Factory's Korean Corn Dog, a hot dog plus fresh mozzarella chunks skewered on a stick that is dipped in thick donut batter, then rolled in panko and French fries, and fried for three minutes.

Indiana State Fair favorite food

Fairgoers who sample food from the Fair's myriad concessions stands will be able to vote for their favorite dish.

Last year's winner was street corn pizza from Swain's Concessions, which also earned the crown in 2022 with its pickle pizza.

This year's winner will receive $2,500, with second place receiving $1,000 and third place $500. The top three finishers will also earn entry to the World Food Championships at the Fairgrounds in November.

Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.