MONROE — Record sales and a trend toward healthier food marked this year’s 12-day Evergreen State Fair, county officials said this week.
Carnival rides, food sales and gate sales helped push total revenue collections to about $3.37 million, fairgrounds director Mark Campbell said.
Attendance was down 19,018, about 2 percent, from last year’s record high of 901,203.
Of the fairground food vendors who used oils for frying, only one stuck with trans-fat oils during the fair, Campbell said. An estimated 44 vendors voluntarily changed to healthier oils, he said.
“I think it’s a positive trend,” Campbell said. “Fair food is fun food, but we find people who dip strawberries or serve real fruit smoothies are doing better business than they have in the past.”
The Evergreen State Fair drew 882,095 people this year, the third-highest attendance in the fair’s 99-year history.
The cornerstone of the fair remains the livestock and competitive exhibits, including quilts, preserved food and art, Campbell said. There were 20,231 competitive exhibits from 4,486 people. Some entered 70 to 80 items, he said.
The weekends continue to post the biggest attendance numbers, Campbell said. On Sept. 2, the final Sunday of the fair, an estimated 123,555 people passed through the gates from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The big draws included the demolition derby and fireworks show, Campbell said. The tallies are imperfect and can include at least hundreds of exhibitors who come and go through the gates more than once, he said.
Sept. 1, attendance tallies were about 122,500 — almost 24,000 higher than last year’s attendance for the day, Campbell said.
“Why? We don’t know,” Campbell said. “This is one of those things where we scratch our head through the winter. It’s almost to the point where we run out of resources, restrooms, staff levels. It creates lines at places where we don’t want lines to be, like carnival rides. We love it and that’s great, but it is a challenge.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
@2. Breakout Header:Evergreen State Fair by the numbers
Total attendance: 882,095, down 2 percent Carnival sales: Up 8.5 percent (includes wristband price increase) Food sales: Up 7.9 percent Gate revenue: Up 6.4 percent (including admission price increase) Record attendance day: 123,555 (Sept. 2) Weather: Generally sunny, with one rainy evening and three cloudy days World record bunny hop: 1,889 people entered the fairground’s bunny hop and paperwork has been filed with the Guinness Book of World Records. The figure unofficially beats the 1,880 hoppers posted by Lake Geneva, Wis., in 2006.
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