Despite rainy days, fair still draws strong crowds

The numbers don’t lie. And, although Fair Manager Jim Gleason said that attendance was down about nine and a half percent, the days with more pleasant weather saw excellent crowds. 
An estimated 307,403 people attended the 2015 Steele County Free Fair, as opposed to an estimated 339,671 fair-goers in 2014. The record was established in 2013, when approximately 350,899 people attended the fair. 
“When the weather was good, people obviously came and it was obviously packed,” Gleason said. He noted that Thursday and Sunday saw especially strong numbers and, while he hadn’t yet received the official word as of Monday when the Times went to press, Gleason said Thursday just may have been the best Thursday in fair history. 
Officials use a formula based on multiple factors, such as ATM withdrawals, beer garden drink purchases and Mega Ride passes, to calculate an estimated number of fair attendees. And, considering the rain that arrived on both Tuesday and Wednesday and the potential for severe weather on Saturday night (which resulted in downpours and high winds) Gleason said the numbers could have been much worse. In fact, ATM cash distribution (the amount of cash withdrawn) was actually up 9.9 percent over last year, and total transactions were up by eight and half percent. 
“Sunday was a huge day,” said Gleason. Sunday, which brought sunshine and also marked the last day of the fair. That day, around $34,000 was distributed out of fair ATMs. 
In addition, the fair also broke its record for the number of Mega Ride passes sold this year. The previous record was set in 2013, when 5,063 passes were purchased. This year, 5,073 passes were sold. “(The Mega Passes) really take weather out of the picture,” Gleason said. “That was a nice number to see there.” 
The beer garden saw a slight decrease in the total number of 12 oz beer cups sold, with a final total of 53,644. This is down roughly five percent from last year. The carnival income was also down by about ten percent. Vendors, says Gleason, reported mixed figures; some reported an increase in profit and others saw a decrease. 
No matter what the final tallies are, however, Gleason said that the fair went well. “Overall, it was a good fair from our standpoint,” he said. “We want to thank everybody that came out; we had a great event. We can’t do anything about the weather but, we’ve also been pretty fortunate over the past few years.”