This year’s annual Bartholomew County 4-H Fair has been declared a success, based on attendance and how much fairgoers spent while on their visit.
Fair board president Rick Trimpe said final reports have been submitted on the nine-day event from June 25 to July 3.
One of the most significant financial boosts was $125,000 allocated to the fair by Bartholomew County government that was a small part of the money received locally through the federal American Rescue Plan.
But in addition to that, attendance was higher than expected. The fair board reports that 110,000 patrons turned out during the nine-day event, which represents 16,500 more fair-goers than two years ago.
“That put us back on track,” Trimpe said. “A lot more people than expected came out, and spent quite a bit of money.”
Fair attendance is estimated through a formula involving counting parked vehicles. The $5 parking fees are split evenly between the fair board and Fraternal Order of Police Local 89, which uses much of their proceeds to sponsor programs that assist area children.
The midway attractions brought in $86,889 to the fair — about $20,000 more than what the midway brought in two years ago, Trimpe said.
The fair board president said he heard from a number of patrons who were anxious to check out the attractions brought in by the fair’s new new midway provider, Kissel Entertainment. Kissel was chosen to replace Burton Bros. Amusements, which had provided rides and midway attractions from 2010 through 2019.
“Everybody loved what Kissel Entertainment brought,” Trimpe said. “We heard nothing but great compliments.”
When compared to 2019, revenue from the grandstand events was up by $5,000, the fair board president said. As anticipated, the two biggest successes were the demolition derbies, which were handled by a new group this year. These events were held on the first and last evenings of the fair.
Another success was the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets event, which included a ceremony that renamed the grandstand as the Tony Stewart Speedway.
Rain and lighting prompted some people to stay home, while many left during a two-hour delay required to get the track back in shape. Nevertheless, income from the event was down only 3% from what it was two years ago, Trimpe said.
Fair officials had said the fair was in financial trouble after last year’s cancellation due to the pandemic. Trimpe said the board had to take out a $50,000 loan just to put on the event this year.
Some patrons may have attended this year to support the county’s largest annual event for the past 64 years, the fair board president said.
“But mostly, I think everyone was just tired of being stuck inside for a whole year, and wanted to get out,” Trimpe said.
There were a few aspects of the fair that did not do as well financially as organizers had hoped. For example, two commercial buildings remained closed because there were such a low number of vendors. The lack of commercial exhibitors caused that revenue to drop $7,000 from the last fair, Trimpe said.
“We think it had to do with the vendors not being unable to get sufficient help,” he said. “That’s what everybody was telling us.”
The rental of fairground facilities for private events including class reunions and wedding receptions has started to pick up again. However, rentals remain substantially lower than they were in 2019, Trimpe added.
“I’ve been thinking folks are still a bit apprehensive because these variants (of the COVID-19 virus) might hurt us again,” he said. “People just need to get vaccinated.”
