The first state fair at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in 1956 saw an opening day crowd twice the size of the previous year.

More than 36,000 people passed through the gates on Sept. 7, The Courier Journal reported. Thousands lined up to buy tickets for the fair's top billings, the Big Top TV Circus and the Ice Capades. Many gasped when they caught a first glimpse of the Coliseum — later renamed Freedom Hall — and the Fairgrounds Stadium for the first time.

Kentucky Gov. A.B. "Happy" Chandler , who formally opened the fair with a ceremonial ribbon cutting, said the Fair and Exposition Center was "perhaps the outstanding facility of its kind in the whole world." The venue was altogether valued at $16 million, which would be around $190 million in 2025 .

Fairgrounds Stadi

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