It was another record-shattering year for the Clark County Fair, with food, fun and fair weather ensuring high attendance and higher spirits.
“By every measure, the fair was successful and record breaking,” said John Morrison, the county’s fair manager. “I am very pleased with its performance and the great team we have assembled to put on this outstanding event.”
Though the county is still number crunching to determine how many people attended the fair, gate revenue was more than $975,000, the highest figure ever. That beats last year’s record by 17 percent.
When attendance data is available, it will be more thorough and detailed than ever, Morrison said. This year the county implemented a new point-of-sale system at its gate, which “promises increased efficiency and much more detailed demographic data,” he said.
Morrison attributed the bump in attendance to an expanded marketing campaign, including billboards in Portland and a bus-wrap program with C-Tran, the return of free concerts at the grandstands, scheduling motor sports events for the final weekend and near ideal weather.
As they were last year, such exhibits as the Sea Lion Splash and Wild About Monkeys exhibits drew huge crowds to the west end of the fair, boosting sales at nearby food booths.
The return of C-Tran’s free shuttle to and from the fairgrounds likely also brought more faces to the fairgrounds, but C-Tran is compiling its own data to determine just how many people used that service, Morrison said.
Food and games also saw a spike, with 49 food vendors — up 4.88 percent over the 2014 record — and cross-carnival income up 8 percent from last year’s record.
The top-selling booth, the Clark County Dairy Women, saw a banner year as well. For the second year in a row, the booth had more than $100,000 in sales of ice cream and milkshakes.
Merry Woodside, booth manager for the Dairy Women, said the hard-working volunteer groups and support from the fair made the massive sales possible.
“It just started out with a bang on the first Friday, which it usually does,” Woodside said. “Sometimes that line comes clear back around past our booth.”
But, as Morrison puts it, “the fair is much more than numbers.”
“I cannot remember receiving such positive comments and such a low number of negative suggestions or complaints,” he said. “I am very proud of the staff and cadre of volunteers that work so hard to bring this event to the public.”
