State Fair: Still room to grow

LINCOLN — Even after clicking more than 300,000 people through the gates of the new fairgrounds in Grand Island, Nebraska State Fair organizers say their event has more room to grow.

Fair officials reported Tuesday that 309,400, attended the first fair to be held outside Lincoln in more than a century. Although attendance fell short of the 367,203 who turned out for last year's final fair in Lincoln, it was the second largest turnout in the past decade.

While curiosity about the new location likely bumped up this year's attendance, State Fair Board member Tam Allan of Lincoln said he is optimistic that future fairs could attract crowds of an equal size or larger.

He explained that many people attend State Fairs as participants — some have children showing livestock, others have submitted a pie or a quilt for exhibits, still others are staffing a commercial exhibit booth, and many are selling food in the concessions area.

The 2010 fair had more commercial exhibits and more livestock exhibits than usual, Allan said. Most vendors reported excellent sales and gave high reviews to the Nebraska event.

“I imagine those people — and their friends — will be back,” Allan said.

The State Fair was moved from its historic location in Lincoln after the state decided to use the former fairgrounds for a research park for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Considering the fair's new location in a less-populous part of the state, fair officials did not expect to equal 2009 attendance figures. However, they were pleased to exceed 2008 attendance figures by about 260 people.

The fair saw fewer people attending from Lincoln and Omaha, although an informal survey of cars in the parking lots showed a significant number of license plates from Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy Counties, said Executive Director Joseph McDermott.

Preliminary figures from a formal survey indicated that one out of five fairgoers were State Fair newcomers, he added. More detailed results from the survey will be available in a week or two, he said. The fair's biggest single day came Sunday, when nearly 53,800 people attended. Its final day, Labor Day on Monday, was hampered by light rain and a chilly wind and saw 33,718.

Cindy Johnson, executive director of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, said anecdotal evidence shows a “mixed bag” of impact on area businesses.

Some reported increased activity. Others said traffic snarls on Locust Street, the main street leading to the fairgrounds, prevented customers from coming inside.

Johnson said the total impact won't be available until sales tax figures are compiled, in about two months.

Some downtown merchants were disappointed that few people visited their businesses during the fair.

“It was deader than dead,” said Vicki Boord, owner of Nana's Country Quilt Shoppe. “A lot of us downtown said the same thing, it didn't help our business at all. By the time people got done with the fair, they were too tired to go shopping.”

Kent Brown, president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, said restaurants, hotels and motels definitely experienced a bump in business because of the fair.

“The south side of town (near the fairgrounds) tended to fare better than the northwest, where the mall is located,” he said. “Businesses that offered off-site parking also saw fair patrons. And I heard that downtown restaurants were packed with people, especially on the first weekend. One of our hopes was that things like that would happen, that the little guys and the big guys would benefit.”

Johnson stressed, however, that the fair is not “a sprint.” Its full impact will be felt over the long term, as more people are exposed to Grand Island through the fair and more regional and national events are scheduled for the new fairground facilities.

“We need to talk about the 11 months of the year when there is not a state fair,” Johnson said. “That's where we need to shine. What we can't do is wait for the grounds to grow dark the day after the fair.”

Though it is actually Fonner Park management and not State Fair staff who are responsible for booking other events on the grounds, McDermott said a national alpaca show already is scheduled for April and he anticipates more events will begin occurring in 2011 and 2012.

Meanwhile, his staff will start to work on the 2011 State Fair, scheduled next year for Aug. 26 through Sept. 5.

“We're going to clean things up here, take a bit of a break and then we'll start planning,” he said. “We need to start booking next year's entertainment in 60 days, so there's not much time to rest.”

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