THE BALLOON MAN

Attendance dip doesn't faze Mohave fair officials

 

JC AMBERLYN/Miner
Attendance was down at the fair this year, but the rides – and the parking lots – were pretty full. Top: A view of the midway from on top of the ferris wheel.
By Suzanne Adams--Miner Staff Reporter
from:  kingmandailyminer
9/19/2012
A low turnout didn't dampen the spirits of the Mohave County Fair Committee.

Attendance dropped about 9 percent from last year, said Fair Association spokeswoman Toni Marie Swats. Last year, 16,362 people attended. This year, 14,759 people attended.

"We were trying to figure out why the figures were down," Swats said. "We think it was because people were coming and doing more and staying longer."

A number of people sat and watched midway shows such as the Kent Family Magic Circus, she said.

There was even some unscripted entertainment Saturday night when a flash mob of about 20 kids showed up and danced in front of the fairgrounds offices, Swats said.

"We got lots of compliments," said Carmen Haack, the vice chair of the fair committee.

Haack said a number of people stopped by the Fair Association's booth over the weekend to tell her how much they liked the variety and increased number of vendors.

 

NICOLETTE WOOD/Miner
The fair also had a good number of exhibits from the community, and the 4-H and Future Farmer's of America auctions got good results, she said.

One vendor, Desert Metal Works, sold out of a metal sculpture of the Monster drink logo and had to go home to make more, Swats said. A number of vendors had already made enough to cover the cost of their booths by Friday evening.

The committee is already working on plans for next year's fair.

"We like to get more people involved," she said. "We especially want more people to enter exhibits."

They're also working on plans to better handle the parking situation, Haack said.

The parking lot was nearly full Friday and Saturday nights and the line to get in stretched down Motor Avenue and Fairgrounds Boulevard.

Staff had to open the gate near Detroit Avenue for overflow parking.

The only other incidents the fair committee had to deal with were the theft of the metal from one of the older sets of bleachers before the fair, Swats said, and a grounds crew worker who suffered from dehydration and had to be taken to the hospital. The worker is doing fine now, she said.