The Shadow
FAIRLEA, W. Va. – The 2010 West Virginia State Fair held in August was a “genuine homegrown success” according to Manager Marlene Pierson-Jolliffe.
Preliminary figures released Friday project gate attendance at 195,000 with 26,547 concert tickets sold which is an increase of 57 percent over 2009. Food concession sales were up 3.5 percent over 2009; however, the carnival division gross income was down less then 1/2 per cent with one day of rain. There were 48 rides on the midway.
“It takes nine complete days to make our event, and the success is a testament to the hundreds of volunteers and employees who love the state fair and work hard to make it enjoyable for fairgoers and exhibitors,” Pierson-Joliffe said. “With the costs to do business increasing annually and many external pressures that are out of our control, it always feels good to get another fair on the books.”
The state fair’s new automated ticketing and scanning system will provide details on crowd flows at particular gates.
The system also allowed for scanning children under 5 who are admitted free of charge and rough data shows over 9,000 youngsters were scanned.
The fair has an $8.9 million economic impact on Greenbrier County. For information on the fair visit www.statefairofwv.com.
