Officials Tallying the Final Fair Figures Are Counting It a Success

The final echo of the fireworks has died, the Alaskan racing pigs have rounded their last curve, and the sweet, heavy odor of fried dough has blown out to sea. Livestock that filled barns have headed home or to the slaughterhouse. The 1996 Ventura County Fair is over.

“This is the most depressing day of the year--to see it all come down,” says Devlin Raley, a fair publicist, packing up boxes in his trailer.

“I wish it would last another week.”

As carnies and bulldozers erased all traces of the 12-day event Monday, fair officials tallied the fair’s vital statistics and declared it a success.

Despite strong winds and untypically low temperatures, 255,540 braved traffic jams to attend the fair, up slightly from 1995. Ventura’s increased turnout bucks an industry trend, which shows fair attendance falling 4 1/2% to 5% statewide.

Contrasted with last year, this summer’s carnival-goers rode more rides, donated more meat to the Food Share program, and caused less of a ruckus. And the oldest fair-goer on record--103-year-old Edith Dart of Newbury Park--turned out for Senior Citizens Day.

More than 40,000 ribbons were bestowed during the 12-day fair, and 399 swine, steer, lambs, rabbits, chickens and replacement heifers (not to be eaten) were auctioned off for a total of $302,479.

Although attendance was up only slightly, thrill-seekers spent 17% more per capita for rides this year.

The Regional Food Bank teamed with the Moorpark 4-H to collect meat for the Food Share program. This year, 33 animals--including the grand champion goat--were donated to the Food Share effort. The food will go to abused women and children, the homeless and low-income families.

“The fair is important to us, because we don’t usually get meat,” said Anthoula Randopolous, head of Resource Development for the Ventura Food Share program. “It’s nice to get protein.”

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Despite some gang violence in the past, Lt. Carl Handy of the Ventura Police Department said this year’s fair was quiet, with less than half a dozen arrests. Police took a range of security measures: requiring hard-core gang members in attendance to have an escort, pulling aside youths at the gates and forcing them to remove signs of gang affiliation, and keeping on hand a full staff of gang officers from Oxnard and surrounding areas.

“There were a couple of chest-bumping incidents,” Raley said. “But with that many people you are bound to have a little bit of posturing.”

“This year went more comfortably than any I can remember,” said Raley’s wife and fellow fair publicist, Teri. “It was an easy, wonderful, smooth fair. If I could have a wish list, it would be to have the same fair again next year.”

Most of the booths, contests and rides were perennials, but this year was the Academic Rodeo’s premiere. Students stunned crowds with their mastery of trivia. Teri Raley said the rodeo will definitely be back next year.

Some old-timers lamented the passing of a day when contest booths were packed to capacity, and there wasn’t enough room to store all the baked goods, and hang all the pictures.

“You don’t have to be a Rembrandt,” said Lillian Sedlak, a chairwoman of the youth division, who has worked the fair for 26 years. “There used to be 25,000, 28,000 entries when the fair was in October. We used to have cases jam-packed to the gills. This year there were two,” she said, pointing to the two display cases.

She attributes the declining interest to a lack of a parental push.

Around the fairgrounds Monday, carnies loaded disassembled dragons, bees, barrels and teacups onto trucks and prepared to move down the coast for a chili cook-off in Malibu. Bulldozers began flattening the floriculture, and contest participants clutching quilts, plants and ribbons lugged loot back to their cars. In a few days the fair will be gone without a trace.

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In its place will come car races, flea markets and craft shows. Fairgrounds officials have sometimes considered keeping a smaller set of carnival rides on a full-time basis, but have no plans to do so, General Manager Michael Paluszak said.

Part of what makes the fair special, he added, is that it only lasts 12 days a year.

“If we were to offer this on a year-round basis, there would be a much more limited demand,” Paluszak said. “This is a time to look, do, and see it all.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura County Fair Attendance

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1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 281,855 306,040 273,525 267,563 274,527 274,203 247,823 254,736

1988 1996 281,855 255,540

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Source: Ventura County Fair records