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New Missouri State Fair arena to debut with grand opening

Construction on the new Michael L. Parson area is wrapping up this month in mid-Missouri, just in time for the Missouri State Fair.

Ag Director Chris Chinn tells Brownfield there will be a grand opening the first day of the fair.

“The Clydesdales will be there from Anheuser-Busch,” she says. “But more importantly, we will be doing a dedication for the Hayden Plaza. It’s really going to set the tone, I believe, for the entire two weeks of the fair.”

MSF Executive Director Jason Moore says he’s glad to see this state-of-the art facility is becoming a reality.

“You know, we had the State Fair Arena for many years, just an open-air rodeo arena, and it served its purpose, it did a great job,” he says. “But we really have an awesome facility. Our designers and architects did a great job of incorporating a lot of the historic brick and archways that you see across the fairgrounds that everybody’s so used to really ties that whole thing together.”

Moore says the arena is going to be a multi-use facility available all year focused on equine, concerts and other events. During the fair, the arena will be the location for the rodeo, bull riding and more.

The 2026 Missouri State Fair is August 13 through 23 in Sedalia.