Gates show attendance topping 100,000, and stock cars are hit
This was the first year for auto racing at the fair.
BY AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- More than 100,000 people attended the 160th annual Trumbull County Fair, President Richard Roscoe said.
There were 61,117 paid attendees at this year's event, which ended Sunday, Roscoe said.
The other 40,000 people had free passes because they were either exhibiting items or participating in an event.
The two highest-attended days were Saturday and Sunday, with about 13,000 people passing through the gates each day, Roscoe said.
"Saturday and Sunday really saved us," he said. "It was so crowded on the sidewalks you could barely move."
Roscoe thinks the fair turned a small profit based on attendance figures, though he doesn't have any official financial numbers.
Stock cars a hit
One of the biggest successes at this year's fair was the B.R.P. Modified Stock Car Racing at the grandstand on Thursday evening. "It filled up the grandstand," he said of the event.
Because this was the first year stock car racing had been featured at the fair, Roscoe was concerned the loud engines might disturb vendors and other fairgoers.
There were no complaints about the event, however, and many of the vendors have signed up to return next year, Roscoe added.
The rainy weather and muddy conditions early in the fair's weeklong run did pose a problem.
"A lot of cars got stuck, and we had to use tractors to pull them out," Roscoe said.
Fair officials tried to hire buses to transport people back and forth from paved parking lots, but they were unable to hire anyone on short notice.
agarrett@vindy.com