The Missouri State Fair’s public campground in Sedalia will open by 9 o’clock Thursday morning.

2018 Missouri State Fair logo (courtesy of the Missouri State Fair and the Missouri Department of Agriculture)

State Fair Director Mark Wolfe says campers have been allowed to enter the fairgrounds at the Centennial Gate since Tuesday morning. That gate is located on Highway 65.

“The camping has grown a lot faster than our ability to provide additional sites and things like that,” Wolfe says. “So we routinely do not have enough camp sites for all the folks that would like to come in and camp during the Missouri State Fair.”

Wolfe tells Missourinet officials have made significant technology upgrades since the 2016 State Fair, which saw seven-hour waits to get into the 60-acre campground.

About 1,200 RV’s arrived that year, and Wolfe notes there was “no place to put them.”

“We have that (technology) equipment now and we’re able to line them up and start processing them immediately,” says Wolfe.

Campers began arriving at the State Fairgrounds on Tuesday, and campground staff members have been going through the line to issue permits in numerical order.

When the campground opens Thursday morning, campers will be accepted in the order of their permit number.

There are more than 1,100 electrical, water and sewer hook-ups at the campground, which is patrolled by Missouri state troopers and State Fair security officers.

Meantime, you’ll notice numerous facility upgrades at the Missouri State Fairgrounds, when the fair opens on August 9th.

Mr. Wolfe says there have been major upgrades at the Coliseum and the nearby women’s building.

“Between the two projects was a major renovation, both sorely needed,” Wolfe says. “They got new roofs, got window replacements, got bathroom remodels, all the exterior paint, a lot of tuck pointing.”

Crews have also made electrical upgrades at 500 sites at the west campground, and new bleachers have been installed at the swine barn.

That’s the site of several livestock shows.

The theme for the 116th Missouri State Fair is “Come Home.”

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