Sales up: Grant County Fair 2021 drew substantial attendance; livestock sale set a record
FFA members show their sheep at the Grant County Fair in August.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — Not only did the 2021 Grant County Fair attract more people than in 2019, it attracted a lot more people. And the annual Junior Livestock Show and Sale set a record for sales.
Fairgrounds director Jim McKiernan said the daily average for attendance was up about 47% over 2019. About 72,000 people attended the 2021 fair over its five-day run, he said.
Fair officials changed how they count attendance, and McKiernan said he thinks the data from 2021 is more accurate than 2019, as he thought the latter was overcounted.
McKiernan said the fair gave people the chance to be out and about after restrictions on movement and events imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a reflection of people being cooped up for 18 months,” he said. “People wanted a semblance of normalcy, and the fair offered that semblance of normalcy.”
The livestock sale raised $767,176.75, McKiernan said, which includes both the prices paid to exhibitors, and donations made in support of the exhibitors. That’s a record, and an increase of about $100,000 over 2019, he said.
The 2020 fair was canceled due to the pandemic. The livestock sale went on, but exhibitors were not allowed to show their animals. The return of the in-person competition gave kids a chance to show the results of the work they had done through the summer.
“That (the livestock show) is the heart of the fair,” McKiernan said.
The Davis Shows carnival also reported a substantial increase in revenue, he said. So did most of the food vendors. There were fewer food vendors in 2021, but fewer food vendors may be a trend in the future.
Live music also may have helped drive up attendance.
“Parmalee definitely drew people in. So did Grupo Control on Saturday,” McKiernan said.
Parmalee is a nationally known country act, and Grupo Control plays norteño music, which has its roots in northern Mexico.
“It was a huge success,” McKiernan said of the fair.
People felt comfortable coming to the fairgrounds, he said, and since most events were outside, there were few pandemic-related restrictions.