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Award-winning llamas, seed spitting, and fried Oreos: The state fair begins

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – What will you find at the Indiana State Fair?

Here’s the shortlist: fried food, frozen treats, live music, rides, farm animals and happy people.

But there’s more to it than that.

You’ll find folks like Ron Sans, who hasn’t missed the fair in 30 years.

“Mostly, I like the ice cream at the milk barn over there,” Sand said.

You’ll find the real old-timers, like four-year-old Lexie Compton.

“It’s a good way to celebrate my birthday,” Compton said before becoming distracted by a butterfly. “I want to come here every day.”

You’ll find friendly faces. Not just on people, but on award-winning llamas.

“This is Panda,” Holly Bruce said, pointing to her llama. Bruce entered her llama in an agility contest for the sixth straight year.

“He’s very good with hugs and with kids and everything.”

If you look around, you might even find a watermelon seed-spitting contest. The defending champion is a little girl named Rylee Divine.

“I spit it out really far,” she said.

You’ll find all types of people having all types of fun.

“I used to come to the fair when I was a little girl,” Donna Geesaman said. Geesaman said she’s taking note of all the things that have changed.

“We’re having a good time,” she said.

Organizers say on average, about 900,000 people attend the fair each year. Fair officials said they recorded the fifth-highest attendance ever in 2015 with about 907,000 people.