County fair attendance took a hit

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Extreme heat and humidity and more took its toll on the 2024 Van Wert County Fair, which came to an end on Monday. Temperatures in the 90s, coupled with excessive humidity created uncomfortable conditions and affected attendance during the first four days of the fair.

“We were down 34 percent or just over $31,000 on paid general admissions through Saturday,” Van Wert County Fair Manager Mike Poling said. “While the extreme heat was definitely a driving factor, the economy also played a part in the drop in attendance.”

While temperatures eased up a bit on Saturday, then dropped on Sunday and on Labor Day Monday, which turned out to be very pleasant day to attend the fair, the die had been cast.

“Saturday started things going in the right direction but it was still down from a year ago but we had a nice crowd,” Poling said. “Sunday was up over Saturday and almost even with last year’s gate and finally on Monday we topped last year, so we did finish strong.”

“Paid outside gate attendance for the week was 12,862 compared to 15,544 a year ago,” Poling explained. “When we convert that to cash sales at the gate for the year we are at $128,624 paid general admission compared to $155,441 a year ago. Our season ticket sales were down slightly at 2,303 compared to 2,475 in 2023 and membership sales were down slightly this year, with 471 memberships sold, compared to 503 sold in 2023.”

Another decision made once the fair started likely had some effect on final gate receipts and vendors. Nonetheless, it seemed to be a welcome decision, especially by those who would attend and participate in the event – a change of venue for the annual cheer competition, which was held on Wednesday, August 28. Instead of being the grandstand attraction that night, the event was moved indoors to Lincolnview High School.

“There were several factors that went into that decision,” Poling stated. “We had fielded a few calls on Monday concerning the heat being an issue during the event. In past years we provided water and a shaded area for the contestants to get out of the sun. Then the forecast changed and added a chance of rain to move in just prior to the event.”

“Lincolnview School provides the mats and those mats aren’t meant to get wet,” he continued. “We had a morning meeting of the fair board on Wednesday and it was brought up by the committee in charge of that event for guidance as to how the board wanted to proceed. After a brief discussion, it was decided to move the event out to Lincolnview High School.”

“It was not a decision we made in haste, as it directly affects all of our vendors on the grounds, the ride company and our outside gates, along with the participants, coaches and families and the staff at Lincolnview, who did a great job in helping us get ready to move the event out there to the school. While the rain did not develop, it was the right decision to ensure everyone’s safety and everyone seemed to enjoy the facilities at Lincolnview.”

The 2025 Van Wert County Fair, the 169^th installment, will be held August 26-September 1, and Poling said discussions will continue about possible ways to increase attendance next year.

“That’s an ongoing discussion every year,” Poling. “We are an outdoor event so mother nature is always going to have an impact on how successful a fair is for any given year. With the way this one started out and considering how it finished, we will consider this years fair a success. Could it have been better, you bet, but given the heat early in the week and a pop up shower in the middle of the afternoon, by the end of the week we saw better weather and better attendance.”

“When we factor in season, membership and youth ticket sales along with our best guess on those who attended that were 12 and under we end up with an attendance for the week at approximately 48,117 compared to 54,781 for last year,” he continued. “We’re already bouncing several ideas around and actually started having those discussions back in the spring as to how we can improve or find ways to boost attendance and looking for ways to help the fair grow in 2025 and beyond. As always, we’re open to ideas from the community as to what they might like to see at the fair or ways to improve, just keep in mind that just like everyone else, we have a budget that we operate under and it would appear it will be down a little for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.”