Monday, September 28, 2009                For more information contact:

For Immediate Release                           Greg Stewart @ 248-7160

FAIR ATTENDANCE DIPS DURING POWER OUTAGE

            The Central Washington State Fair is off and running and with very favorable weather, the Fair has seen good opening weekend crowds.  Fair officials are pointing to a power outage late Saturday afternoon as causing a bit of a dip in the attendance for the day.

Through Sunday, Fair attendance was at 108,541 compared to 114,247 for the first three days last year.

“Our Saturday attendance was down a little over 5,000 from last year,” said Fair president and general manager Greg Stewart.  “With power out here and throughout much of the city and Terrace Heights, and with the traffic problems created by the fire at Boise Cascade, it kept people from coming out.”

Stewart said that was unfortunate, because the Fair didn’t close although the power was out on the grounds for a half hour or so.

“We heard the media was reporting that we were closed,” said Stewart.  “But we weren’t.”

With some good mid-week entertainment scheduled and a big final weekend on tap, Fair officials are hoping that the small set-back in the attendance on the opening Saturday can be made up.

“We have a great Fair this year,” Stewart concluded.  “We hope people come out and enjoy all of our great Fair food, fun and entertainment.”

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