Monday, October 11, 2010

County fair season ending on warm note
Sunday, October 10, 2010
By Wesley Lowery

The Columbus Dispatch
LANCASTER— Temperatures north of 80 degrees didn't deter hundreds of couples, families and children who packed the Fairfield County Fair's opening day today.
But it did mean long waits for ice cream and slushies.

The weeklong fair, the last county fair in Ohio this year, kicked off with a seven-hour free-admission day.

"It's our gift back to the community," fair manager Dave Benson said. "There's no one in Fairfield County that cannot attend at least one day of the fair."

General admission will cost $5 from Monday until Saturday.

A few tweaks have been made to the fair schedule, but for the most part, the event is sticking with tradition.

Benson and officials at other county fairs say schedules have little to do with how many people attend each year. The overall success of a county fair depends largely on the weather, and an autumn breeze and cloudless skies are the best-case scenario.

The weather was not very cooperative last year for Fairfield County, Benson said. Wet, cold weather kept attendance below 100,000 people.

"We hope to have 125,000 to 150,000 people this year," Benson said.

Even cold weather would be fine, he added, as long as there's no rain or extreme heat.

Ohioans competed in pageants, showcased livestock and enjoyed their favorite fairground treats at nearly 100 fairs across the state this year. Officials at many central Ohio fairs said extreme heat wilted attendance numbers as people chose air-conditioned activities over hot, humid fairgrounds.

"The daylight crowd just didn't turn out like they normally do," said Larry Hughes, manager of the Hartford Independent Fair in the Licking County village of Croton.

About 219,000 came out in August for the six-day fair - 19,000 fewer than last year.

"It's all weather-related. If it's either too hot, too cold or too rainy, people won't show up," Hughes said.

After a huge turnout for its opening Saturday in mid-July, attendance at the Franklin County Fair trickled off as the heat index topped 100 degrees.

"We had as good of a first day as you can expect to have," said Tim Shade, fair manager.

The fair, which featured motocross races, live music and rides, also suffered from one day of soaking rains. Shade estimates about 44,000 people attended, down from more than 46,000 last year.

"In Columbus, look at the choices people have, and a lot of them are air-conditioned choices," Shade said. "The heat got us, and unfortunately it's the one thing as a fair manager I can't control."

Officials at some other area fairs attributed attendance fluctuation to other, more controllable factors.

wlowery@dispatch.com

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