The 2 times ive been there the chairs are maybe 4 or 5 feet back for the center section but they let us up to the fence/wall. The side sections are farther back but not alot and like i said...front row does get to come forward ...the security was pretty nice the ones we went to...letting you come up from back rows and get pics and then they told you "nicely" you had to go back to your seats, but some places dont even let you come down front for anything. Dont know if this one will be the same or not or if that is just the way the state fair is......hope this helps.
Debi