COLUMBUS, Ohio – Just about any state fair you attend will offer plenty of arts and crafts exhibits, rides, livestock, tasty foods to enjoy and stage show entertainment. But the Ohio State Fair is the only state fair in the nation that offers an all-state youth band and choir.

The All-Ohio State Fair Band and All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir feature the talents of high school instrumentalists and vocalists from more than 125 high schools from many of Ohio’s 88 counties. Eligible participants are traditionally chosen through an online application and recommendation process, the latter coming from the student’s high school band or choir director.

The All-Ohio State Fair Band was founded in 1925 by Jack Wainwright, of Fostoria. It was first known as the All-Ohio Boys’ State Fair Band. There have been only five directors of the band since 1925. The band’s director, Brian W. Dodd, is celebrating his 10th year as director of the band.

The All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir was founded in 1963 by Glenville D. Thomas, a long-time vocal music director at Zanesville High School. There have been six directors since 1963. Jon C. Peterson, of Hudson, has led the choir since 2014.

Two former members of the band and choir are Ed and Lisa Gallagher. Both were elected to the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame.

Ed was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a four-year member of the state band and has served on the band staff for 38 years, having served in several roles.

Lisa was elected to the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame in 2024 for her support of the Ohio State Fair itself and service to the All-Ohio band and choir for 26 years.

To this day, Ed is the director of operations for the All-Ohio State Fair Band and the All-Ohio State Youth Choir. Lisa now serves as the administrative assistant for the band.

“I was in the state fair band in 1988 and have been on the staff of the fair itself since I was in high school,” Ed said. “I was an exhibitor in the arts and crafts and played the state fair mascot for parades and opening ceremonies. This fair tends to be my hobby as well as my part time gig. From the time I was in the Hall of Fame I’ve been with the choir as well.”

Lisa laughed, “I married into the fair. When Ed and I were dating and we decided to get married, Ed told me right off the bat that we couldn’t get married during the state fair dates. I started working at the fair in 1999 and began with the band. I became the administrative assistant, and I also work with the choir. I was judge of the Girls Scouts talent show for 15 years and was a pianist for the judging of the Holstein Futurity. I’d play as the kids marched their animals before the judge. Like Ed, I was an exhibitor too. The fair gets in your blood.”

The couple’s daughter, Megan, was an All-Ohio State Fair Band member for six years (flag three years, trumped three years) and now serves as social media coordinator for the state band.

Applications for the band and choir are accepted each year from Feb. 1 through March 31. Membership is determined by student proficiency, instrumentation needs of the band, and geographical considerations. All instruments are needed, including oboe, bassoon, Sousaphone and French horn.

“We don’t hear them play, it’s all based on their high school director’s recommendation,” Ed said. “We ask if they take music lessons and if they participated in solo ensembles at school. The same applies to those who want to participate in the state choir.”

Members of this band arrive at the Rhodes Center near the end of July to begin several intense days of rehearsal. The band members live on site at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus and are housed in the Rhodes Center complex. Students are under adult leadership night and day. Meals are provided and sleeping arrangements are in barrack-style dormitories.

They rehearse over 60 pieces of concert music as well as numerous marches. Each year members perform nearly 90 concerts during the fair schedule.

“Our ensembles’ distinguished and experienced staff is comprised of musicians and educators who strive to provide outstanding direction and supervision to each member,” Ed added. “During their stay at the Ohio State Fair, members work with peers who share similar interests who develop friendships that last a lifetime.”

Five days before the opening of the Ohio State Fair, the new choir meets at the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus and launches into a rigorous schedule that includes vocal training, sectional and full rehearsals, solo auditions, and marching instruction. Once the fair opens, the Youth Choir sings six to eight concerts a day and marches up to 10 miles a day to various performance sites around the 360-acre fairgrounds.

“These kids come in and maybe they don’t know each other, but they can make music together and that’s something they have in common,” Dodd said. “Their musical skills improve, and their leadership skills improve, and then they go back to their home high schools just better players and better leaders.”

This year’s Ohio State Fair runs from July 23 to Aug. 3.