Mooreland Free Fair

Located on the former site of the Mooreland Bobcats, the Mooreland Free Fair features food, fun, and a wide range of activities for all ages to enjoy! Parking & Admission are free.

Before there was a fair, Labor Day was a day of celebration in Mooreland, Indiana. Oscar White would set off an explosion of gunpowder at 3:00 o'clock in the morning to awaken people and get them ready for the day. There was a carry-in dinner with tables set up in the main street. Potato and sack races and a parade were part of the activity, and there was the Chamness Brothers' Merry-go-Round with rides for five cents.

In the 1930s, Doc Brinson decided that Mooreland needed to revive a community event similar to the old Potato Day. He sent out 30 cards asking people to a meeting about it; 21 of them came. It was suggested that there be at least three rides, to make it at least a three-day fair, to use the school grounds, to make it free (no admission fee) and to call it "The Mooreland Free Fair". At the second meeting, Brinson was elected president of the Mooreland Free Fair Board.

As for that first fair, according to Brinson, "They came from miles and miles away. There were thousands."

The fair ceased for two years during WWII and was started again by Allan Warren who became president. He served only for a short time and the reigns were then handed to Astor Main, one of the town leaders present at that first meeting. Main served as president for 58 years until his passing in 2005. During his years of service, the fair was extended from a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to a full week and our relationship with Poor Jack Amusements of Milton, Indiana began in only their second year of business.

Our current fair president, Jodie Brown, stepped in after Main's passing. Just as presidents before her, she is not limited to that one role. She lends a hand where ever it is needed including serving on, if not being head of several committees. The fair board typically consists of around 40 members who, with the help of their committees and family members as well as people in the community, volunteer many hours of their time each year to make the fair come together. Planning for the next year begins as soon as the current fair is over with meetings held once a month, most months of the year.

Notable fair changes over the years have included, but are not limited to; the demolition of the Mooreland School building, the change from tents to permanent buildings, a sizable midway expansion, moving the Car Show to our town park, and the growing of an online presence in our new digital age.

However, the one thing that has never changed from our very first Mooreland Free Fair is the people: "They came from miles and miles away. There were thousands."