Pence to decide on State Fair Alcohol sales

INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana State Fair attendees in August may get to do something that hasn’t been allowed there for 67 years — drink alcohol.

The House voted 75-20 on Tuesday for Senate Bill 339, legalizing the sale of alcohol at the state fairgrounds during the 17-day annual event showcasing the best of Indiana culture and agriculture.

According to state Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, the booze ban was enacted in 1946 after the fair ran out of paper cups for beer and started selling bottles directly to patrons. A state legislator, dismayed by the broken glass on the fairgrounds, won passage of a law banning alcohol sales during the fair.

Alcohol is sold during most other events held at the Indianapolis fair site, just not the State Fair.

Fair officials plan to showcase Indiana-made beer and wine at the fair if Republican Gov. Mike Pence signs the proposal into law. It passed the Senate 33-13 on Jan. 30.