Attendance and revenues were up at the 42nd Southeast Alaska State Fair, where a variety of acts and attractions overcame cloudy, drizzly weather that rolled in on Saturday, traditionally the event’s biggest day.
“Right now we’re up about $23,000 over last year’s revenues,” including estimated increases of $10,000 at the gate, $3,000 from rides and $6,500 in beer sales, bookkeeper Theresa Raven said Wednesday. All numbers are still preliminary, she said.
Gate revenues Saturday were about $8,000 more than on Saturday last year, which saw sparkling weather. Ticket prices remained the same.
“On Saturday, we were slamming. The rain didn’t stop people from coming to that fair. It was fun,” said Kathy Warner, who was busy in Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s burger booth. A fair mainstay for more than three decades, the booth sold out of burgers for the first time in several years, she said. “We did very well.”
Restaurant owner Lisa Loberg said her booth sold more than 100 pizzas during the fair. Crowds swelled during Friday’s evening shows by bluegrass dance band Trampled by Turtles and hip-hop act Blues Scholars. “Friday was just ungodly,” Raven said.
Paul Wheeler, a nine-year member of the fair’s board of directors, attributed the large crowds to consistently good fairs in the past couple of years. “Last year was such a positive, high-energy fair, people put out the word and other people come because of that.”
“Also, families loved seeing animals back in the barn again and there was a multitude of different things to do, basically,” Wheeler said, pointing to Sunday afternoon workshops where groups of people gathered to learn hula hooping from performer Spiral or martial arts moves from Nanda, whose acrobatic fight scenes drew throngs to the main stage.
A Thursday night talent show attracted 26 acts from Haines, Juneau and other communities and made for a larger crowd than typically comes during that time slot, fair board members said.
For food booth worker Warner, who has seen 26 fairs, said the mix was just right. “I liked the vibe this year. It was very well done, all the way around. And I did enjoy the music. It was a good variety,” Warner said.
Fair exhibits dropped from 756 last year to 660. Fair workers said the number of out-of-town exhibits was about even with last year. The decline was due to fewer exhibits from Haines, they said.
Concerns heard by board members included that the volume of main stage acts was too loud, that popular acts were difficult to see due to crowds around the main stage and that delays pushed headline acts into the late night.
The fair may look at low-rise bleachers or other improvements to improve crowd visibility, board members said this week.
Members of the fair, volunteers and others have a chance to make their comments on the event at the fair’s annual membership meeting, set for later this fall. The meeting, not yet scheduled, also includes election of fair board members.