Marketplace
![[SeMissourian.com]](http://www.semissourian.com/images/nameplate.gif)
|
|
Fair ~ River stage: 33.29 Rising Friday, November 20, 2009 |
RSS
 Print
 Email link
 Respond to editor
 Read comments (20)
 Share link
Attendance down at this year's district fairMonday, September 21, 2009
About 102,000 people attended the eight-day fair, fair spokesman Pete Poe said Sunday, about 1,900 fewer than in 2008. "We were pleased with the results despite the weather," Poe said. The final grandstand performance of the fair, Saturday night's show by country singer John Michael Montgomery, drew a nice crowd in spite of the rainy, overcast skies duirng the day, Poe said. At last year's fair, the crowd of 103,901 was up 7 percent from 2007 attendence numbers, and fair organizers hoped the trend would continue this year in spite of the failing economy. Poe said other fairs and festivals had boasted high attendence numbers this year, perhaps because people were trying to save money by staying closer to home and visiting relatively inexpensive attractions. "We were very pleased with last year's results, and we're not disappointed by this year's," Poe said. Poe said the fair's on-grounds entertainment, such as the Ultimate Canines and the menagerie exhibitions, seemed to draw a lot of viewers this year. "We didn't plan the fair around a down economy; we planned it around our fairgoers," Poe said. This year was the first time the fair featured livestock exhibits all eight days, and Poe said the measure was met with success, not just from fairgoers but from exhibitors. "We got it done without any issues," he said. Next year's entertainment will likely feature a diverse group of grandstand performers, Poe said. Next year, which will be the 155th year of the SEMO District Fair, will also mark the 70th anniversary of the fair's home at Arena Park. The fair moved to Arena Park in 1939 from Capaha Park, formerly known as Fairgrounds Park. 388-3635 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
|
More stories
Enter your email address to subscribe to our mailing lists:
|
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Furl
Reddit
Google
![[Order this photo]](http://semissourian.mycapture.com/mycapture/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return%20to%20site&backurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.semissourian.com%2Fstory%2F1572022.html&thumbpath=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.semissourian.com%2Fphotos%2F12%2F70%2F19%2F1270194-S.jpg&previewpath=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.semissourian.com%2Fphotos%2F12%2F70%2F19%2F1270194-L.jpg&pricingsheetid=920){kind=link}
THE GATE PRICES WERE TO HIGH IN MY OPINION THIS YEAR 4$ IS A LITTLE STEEP'' ALSO I THOUGHT THE FOOD PRICES WERE PRETTY HIGH ALSO..RUSTY ROBINSON MOUND CITY IL.
Not sure why they charge gate prices at all.
It's hard to complain about gate prices when kids 12 and under were free and there was also free parking.
One complaint I have was that everything opened so late. Many of the food stands were not open when I attended during the day & none of the rides were. I seen many families with young children attending during these hours but couldn't do much.
This Year was the First time I have gone in Ten years,I saw the same lousy food stands,same high food prices,same boring rides,same boring entertainment,same boring fair.
I attended Joe Nichols concert, and the word AWESOME doesn't even begin to describe it. I also had a meet & greet pass, and got to meet him.
I will admit that $4.00 is a little steep for the admission even though there is free parking. We pay taxes on the park for the whole year, and some people only go there during the fair so they have to pay twice, once in taxes, and once for gate.
Lowery is ok I guess, but there are so many others that are better. What ever happened to the 'Mighty Blue Grass'? They are still on the circuit, and I miss their Merry Go Round it is a lot better than Lowery's. Another real good one(if you could get them) is 'Drew Exposition'
http://www.drewexpo.com/
I worked for Drew a long time ago, and they were great to work for. They have a lot more to offer.
And about the rides, and stands not opening early. I remember when Blue Grass came here, and on certain days they would open at noon. They had a day for Seniors, and one for when the schools would let out early(Wed. was for seniors, and Thurs was for the schools), and it was free gate from noon until five.
This is just my opinion, and memories from the past.
I haven't been to the fair in years. When the prices started going up and the quality never improved is when I stopped.
Same vendors, same exhibits, same rides, same country music and same damn MONKEY!...glad I didn't attend.
What happened to the Rock n Roll bands this year?
Ya know, it was the same fair. But the SEMO Fair is what it is. It always will be.
$4 ain't bad with free parking and kids under 12 free. I'm not sure what you people do for entertainment for less.
The food vendors do this for a living. The city charges them sales tax in the end. Eat before you go next year if you think it's too high. At least they let us walk around with beer.
Pete Poe, keep up the good work. Your work is rarely appreciated.
I would like to know what the gate fee goes to as well? They sure as heck do not put it back into Arena Park.
I think it is wrong to charge someone for a ticket to see a show and then charge them to get inot the fair as well. If you buy a ticket to a show the fair is putting on shouldn't you be covered to get in to see it. Some tickets were not covered under such a policy. More Cape community politics at work.
Many fairs have a Senior Friday where seniors get in free and are provided free parking. Does the SEMO District Fair offer this? If not, they should consider it. This gives the seniors on limited income a chance to enjoy the fair and an opportunity to purchase food and drinks from the vendors. This has been a real plus for our state fair.
People who bought show tickets did not have to pay gate admission.
The city does not get any of the money. the fair is not the city. they are their own organization.
do your homework before spouting off.
Turnip was right. It was a HUGE disappointment that more than half of the vendors wasnt open during the day. I won't waste my time next year.
WAAAAAAY Better attendance and profit for the City than Tour of Snorssouri.
Balmy,
Wednesdays is Senior day. Always has been.
4 dollars is bad? Try 14 to get into the NY State Fair in Syracuse. Also try 20 bucks a pop for the tractor pull. Count your blessings is all I can say. The NY State Fair in Syracuse was great and all, but not that much bigger than the SEMO fair.
Did anyone know that the games(referred to as joints by the carnies) have to pay to set up? The line up joints pay so much per foot for the front, and the center joints pay so much per foot for a side, and a half. So they try to make their money back.
At least that is what it was a few years back, and I doubt that it has changed.
Do you think it is cheap to throw the fair. Entertainment is always a loser and there is a ton of expenses. It isn't the money maker that you might think. Also the city nor any other government entity has any interest in the fair.
The fair owns more surrounding land than arena park itself and is used by the city at no charge. The fair donated the original property to the city to use as a park except for two weeks in which the fair owns it.
They have monthly meetings and look for talent to help "throw the show" you might say. I used to be very involved but business took to much of my time. They are some of the best guys I can say that I have worked with. Very dedicated unpaid volunteers.