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The Douglas County Fair ended its five-day run Saturday night with 64,000 people passing through the gates.
“This year's fair was very comfortable,” fairgrounds Director Harold Phillips said. “For the small market we're in, we do very well.”
Attendance was off nearly 11,000 from a year ago, when performances by the Scorpions and Billy Idol shattered fair concert records. The Scorpions set an all-time record, attracting 12,500 fans while Idol brought in 11,000 people, tying the previous record set by Poison three years earlier.
“There was no way we were going to be able to compete with that,” Phillips said.
Last week's fair drew 5,000 more people than the 2009 fair, which was a 6 percent increase from the year before. Overall, Phillips said he was pleased with the turnout.
Looking back, the only thing he might have done differently would have been to offer a ticket discount promotion Friday to draw a larger crowd, Phillips said. Some 11,000 people showed up that day, only 400 more than on opening day Tuesday.
The largest crowds of the week came Wednesday, 15,500, and Thursday, 15,034. Those were the days with the best-attended concerts. Also Wednesday, carnival rides were discounted. On Thursday, members of the military were admitted free and a two-for-one ticket promotion was available.
Fair officials were reviewing sales reports this morning, so figures on food, beverage and merchandise sales were not available. Initial reports indicate sales were comparable to the 2009 fair.
“The vendors understood that sales wouldn't be as good as they were last year. They expected that,” Phillips said.
Wednesday's performance by Canadian rock group Three Days Grace drew the largest concert crowd of the week, 8,500. Country singer Dierks Bentley attracted 7,400 on Thursday, while blues legends Buddy Guy and Jimmie Vaughan drew 4,000 people, following by country singer Josh Kelley with 3,500 and Beatles tribute band BeatleMania Live with about the same.
Of the 800 reserved seats sold for Guy's performance, half of them were bought by people from outside Douglas County, Phillips said.
“They came from Northern California all the way up into Washington state,” he said.
The weather cooperated throughout the week, he said. Temperatures remained in the low to mid-80s most of the week.
“The evenings got cool, though,” he said. “On Saturday, some people were wearing sweatshirts before the sun went down.”
Few behavior problems were reported during the week. One person who jumped the stage during one of the concerts had to be removed, along with several people who got drunk.
Phillips had security officers roam the parking lot for the first time this year to discourage people from holding miniature tailgate parties. That kept fairgoers from getting drunk before they went in to the fair.
Checking people's bags when they go into the fair the past few years has cut down on problems caused by people bringing alcohol into the fairgrounds, Philips said. While beer can be purchased inside, sales are controlled and people can only drink in designated areas.
Phillips said he was pleased that all of the vendor booth space was booked this year for the first time in many years. Animal entries from youngsters involved in 4-H and high school FFA programs were also up.
“We put on a good fair and people got a lot of value for the money they spent,” he said.
“This year's fair was very comfortable,” fairgrounds Director Harold Phillips said. “For the small market we're in, we do very well.”
Attendance was off nearly 11,000 from a year ago, when performances by the Scorpions and Billy Idol shattered fair concert records. The Scorpions set an all-time record, attracting 12,500 fans while Idol brought in 11,000 people, tying the previous record set by Poison three years earlier.
“There was no way we were going to be able to compete with that,” Phillips said.
Last week's fair drew 5,000 more people than the 2009 fair, which was a 6 percent increase from the year before. Overall, Phillips said he was pleased with the turnout.
Looking back, the only thing he might have done differently would have been to offer a ticket discount promotion Friday to draw a larger crowd, Phillips said. Some 11,000 people showed up that day, only 400 more than on opening day Tuesday.
The largest crowds of the week came Wednesday, 15,500, and Thursday, 15,034. Those were the days with the best-attended concerts. Also Wednesday, carnival rides were discounted. On Thursday, members of the military were admitted free and a two-for-one ticket promotion was available.
Fair officials were reviewing sales reports this morning, so figures on food, beverage and merchandise sales were not available. Initial reports indicate sales were comparable to the 2009 fair.
“The vendors understood that sales wouldn't be as good as they were last year. They expected that,” Phillips said.
Wednesday's performance by Canadian rock group Three Days Grace drew the largest concert crowd of the week, 8,500. Country singer Dierks Bentley attracted 7,400 on Thursday, while blues legends Buddy Guy and Jimmie Vaughan drew 4,000 people, following by country singer Josh Kelley with 3,500 and Beatles tribute band BeatleMania Live with about the same.
Of the 800 reserved seats sold for Guy's performance, half of them were bought by people from outside Douglas County, Phillips said.
“They came from Northern California all the way up into Washington state,” he said.
The weather cooperated throughout the week, he said. Temperatures remained in the low to mid-80s most of the week.
“The evenings got cool, though,” he said. “On Saturday, some people were wearing sweatshirts before the sun went down.”
Few behavior problems were reported during the week. One person who jumped the stage during one of the concerts had to be removed, along with several people who got drunk.
Phillips had security officers roam the parking lot for the first time this year to discourage people from holding miniature tailgate parties. That kept fairgoers from getting drunk before they went in to the fair.
Checking people's bags when they go into the fair the past few years has cut down on problems caused by people bringing alcohol into the fairgrounds, Philips said. While beer can be purchased inside, sales are controlled and people can only drink in designated areas.
Phillips said he was pleased that all of the vendor booth space was booked this year for the first time in many years. Animal entries from youngsters involved in 4-H and high school FFA programs were also up.
“We put on a good fair and people got a lot of value for the money they spent,” he said.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 541-957-4209 or by email at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
