LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Kentucky State Fair rule is getting mixed reactions from teenagers.
Anyone under 18 must have someone at least 21 years old with them after 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
From Friday through Sunday, the rule applies all day.
One adult can accompany up to six minors. Fair staff will check IDs at the gates, including ride-share entrances, to make sure minors arriving by Uber or Lyft have an adult with them.
Anyone who breaks the rule could be prosecuted for trespassing.
Some high school students said they were disappointed to learn the rule applies all day this weekend.
"I found it out this morning that we couldn't come if we weren't 18," Eliza Ford said. "And I was kind of disappointed."
Ford said she understands the need for chaperones late at night, but thinks the rule can be unnecessary during the day.
"I understand past, like, 12 o'clock, or, like, during midnight or something," she said. "But I think during the day and a little bit later at night, it's kind of just unnecessary sometimes."
Other teens said they understand why the fair has the rule.
"I honestly think we need it because knowing the kids our age, they're not the smartest," one teen said. "So, they make dumb decisions."
The policy was put in place in 2019 after a group of teens set off fireworks in a large crowd.
Then in 2022, an 18-year-old was arrested at the fair with a stolen gun. Nine other people were arrested after using noise-making devices that caused fairgoers to believe shots had been fired.
But this year one change has been made.
"Our rideshare, Uber, Lyft, drop-offs, make sure that you have your kids with an approved chaperone, because Uber, Lyft, and rideshare must drop off outside the gate of Gate One and their IDs will be checked before they will be able to enter," fair spokesperson Ian Cox said.
The Kentucky State Fair runs through Aug. 30 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.
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