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ABOVE EXPECTATIONS
Canfield Fair
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LUNCH BREAK: Eli Razo feeds 7-week-old Cornish rock cross chickens. His daughters, Anna and Maria, were showing the birds at this year’s Canfield Fair.
Five days of warm, sunny weather brought attendance figures back up from 2008.
By Elise Franco
CANFIELD — Fair board members are happy with the 163rd Canfield Fair.
Board member Timm Schreiber said attendance for the first five days of the six-day fair were up significantly from 2007 and 2008.
“This year has been above my expectations,” he said. “We’re up from the last two years.”
Schreiber said he credits the increase to the slow economy and the weather.
“A lot of people are saying they didn’t go on vacation, so they used the fair as their vacation,” he said. “We are just thankful they chose to come spend their money here.”
Schreiber said attendance for Sunday, which is usually the busiest day of the fair, was 84,282. The same day in 2008 saw 83,045 patrons.
He said he predicts attendance for Monday will be slightly lower than usual.
“I think because we had so many good days in a row, a lot of people came early,” Schreiber said. “I’d be happy with 50,000 for Monday.” 63,881 people attended the last day of the fair in 2008.
He said another reason Monday figures may be lower than in past years is because the board decided not to have a Grandstand show Monday night.
“We opted to have one big show this year because we felt people couldn’t afford to support two,” Schreiber said. “It’s a one-time thing. We chose to be more conservative this year.”
Though fair-goers had brief periods of light rain to deal with Monday afternoon, the first five days of the fair were sunny and warm, bringing in hordes of people. Schreiber said it’s been years since the weather has been so consistent.
“It’s got to be at least eight or ten years since the last time we’ve had weather like this,” he said. “To have a perfect five days in a row is unheard of.”
Judge Jim Evans, fair board president, said he has no complaints about the 163rd Canfield Fair.
“I think the fair went very well this year,” he said. “The overall complaints were probably to a minimum, and I can’t think of one issue we weren’t able to accommodate.”
Evans, who is finishing up the second year in his two-year term as board president, said before the fair kicked-off, the board had no idea what to expect in terms of attendance.
“The last three months before the fair we were putting out feelers,” he said. “Other big fairs were down significantly, but [the company that provides the amusement rides] kept telling us the church festivals and smaller county fairs were up.”
Schreiber said the three and six-day pass sales nearly doubled from 2008. He said about 3,000 three-day passes were sold for $15 each, and about 1,500 six-day passes were sold for $30 each.
He also said the implementation of credit card machines at the three main gates was successful.
“People thought it was a great idea to have the credit card machines at the gates,” Schreiber said. “It gives them a little bit more money to spend on concessions and other things inside the fair.”
efranco@vindy.com
The Canfield Fair came to a close Monday, and fair board members said it was an all-around successful year. Attendance figures for the fair are:
WEDNESDAY
Aug. 27, 2008: 14,690.
Sept. 2, 2009: 25,663.
THURSDAY
Aug. 28, 2008: 25,062.
Sept. 3, 2009: 41,307.
FRIDAY
Aug. 29, 2008: 40,572.
Sept. 4, 2009: 46,703.
SATURDAY
Aug. 30, 2008: 74,936.
Sept. 5, 2009: 78,965.
SUNDAY
Aug. 31, 2008: 83,045.
Sept. 6, 2009: 84,282.
MONDAY
Sept. 1, 2008: 63,881.
Sept. 7, 2009: Estimated at 50,000.
TOTAL
2008: 302,186.
2009: N/A.
Average total attendance: 400,000.
Record total attendance: 539,437, in 1979.
Record single-day attendance: 158,423 on Sun., Sept. 2, 1979.
Source: Canfield Fair Administration and Farris Marketing