GC Fair attendance up 58 percent

MOSES LAKE - Attendance apparently was up by 58 percent, or 25,144 people, and revenue was also increased at the 2013 Grant County Fair. Planning already is underway for 2014, and may include moving some longtime nonprofit food vendors to new locations.

Manager Jerry Gingrich said attendees were counted every time they came through the gate, rather than just the first time. In 2013 fair managers waived admission on Tuesday, which also helped boost attendance, he said. Admission prices were the same as 2012.

The free day meant admission revenue was down about $10,000 over 2012, he said, but there were more customers at the food booths. The fair gets a cut of food booth revenue. Gingrich said when all the money is added up the fair will generate more revenue, even with the free day, than in 2012.

"We have a lot of support from the community," he said.

Overall fair attendance, with people counted every time they came in the gate, was 68,289, compared with 43,145 in 2012, Gingrich said. (The alternate method is to use a multiplying factor to determine overall attendance, but Gingrich said he didn't think that method is as accurate.)

Those numbers don't include attendance at the Moses Lake Roundup or the demolition derby, he said.

The number of exhibitors was down from 2012, he said, but the number of exhibits was up.

Planning is already underway for the 2014 fair, Gingrich said, which could include some changes along the food court. The Moses Lake Lioness Club has outgrown its booth, he said, and is asking for more space. It hasn't been determined yet how that request will be accommodated, he said.

The Lioness Club, purveyors of Spaceburgers may move to a new building, or fair officials might build a new building, he said. One non-profit food vendor has indicated they might not return in 2014, he said, which would free up a bigger building.

The building next to the Lioness Club booth also may be available; its 2012 tenant dropped out shortly before the 2013 fair and fair officials didn't rent it, Gingrich said.

Preference is given to non-profit groups when assigning the buildings along the food court, he said. The food court did have two new tenants in 2013, he said, the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce and Classy and Crazy Cakes.

Food vendors will be asked for a commitment in January, which is a departure from past practice, he said, but it will help fair officials decide how to proceed.