WASHINGTON CO. FAIR ATTENDANCE DOWN FROM 2019

Josh Blaschke October 8, 2021

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Crowds were down by a noticeable amount at this year’s Washington County Fair from previous years, according to fair officials.

The 2021 Washington County Fair's Junior Livestock Auction set a new record for total sales, but paid attendance numbers fell from 2019, the most recent paid fair. (Mark Whitehead)

Numbers provided by Washington County Fair Manager Dean Fuchs show the 2021 fair had a total paid attendance of 37,647 for “clicker counted” tickets checked at the gate. That total is down 19.7 percent from the last paid fair in 2019, which had 46,884 guests. No tickets were sold for 2020’s fair.

Measuring attendance for individual days, opening night on Wednesday had 6,801 guests, compared to 9,343 in 2019. Thursday saw 6,214 guests, while Thursday’s attendance in 2019 was 8,401. Crowds on Friday measured at 9,428, compared to 2019’s tally of 11,228. The conclusion of the fair on Saturday brought in 15,204 guests, while the final day of the fair two years ago had a turnout of 17,912.

No attendance numbers are available for the opening weekend and Tuesday of the fair, as those days have free entry.

The four queen candidates sold 5,173 season tickets for $206,910. The combined ticket sales record of $221,436 was set in 2018.

While overall attendance numbers may have been down, the junior livestock auction hit an all-time high in total sales. The unofficial total for the auction was $922,247, over $100,000 more than the previous record of $814,450 set in 2019.

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