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Preliminary estimates suggest attendance was lower than in 2019 Kenneth Song/News-PressRides are seen from Minetti Arena during the Santa Barbara County Fair at the Santa Maria Fairpark on Sunday.
The COVID-19 virus seems to have impacted another event, as preliminary estimates indicate the number of people attending this year’s Santa Barbara County Fair is lower than organizers hoped it would be, yet the thousands who did show up at the Santa Maria Fairpark during the five-day event apparently had a great time, particularly enjoying the rides and carnival food, a fair spokeswoman said Sunday.
The important thing is that the fair took place at all following its shutdown in 2020 and modified approach in 2021, complete with virtual livestock auction and portable theme park, Rebecca Parks, the fair’s public relations coordinator, told the News-Press.
A camel delivers a ride while a zebra grazes during the fair.“The community looks forward to this,” she said. “Knowing we are back and look the same now, they know we’re not going anywhere. It’s the same fair you remember going to growing up, and it’s only going to grow and get better.”
While attendance numbers are not yet available, Ms. Barks said it appears that the numbers are down this year from 2019, when about 130,000 people showed up.
Young dancers from Lompoc-based Garcia Dance Studios deliver a performance“On Wednesday and Thursday, it was lower than 2019,” she said. “On Friday we ran about the same, and we saw a slight increase on Saturday.”
The biggest factor, she said, was that the number of animals sold in this year’s livestock auction was only half the number sold two years ago.
The 2020 Spirit of Fiesta Alena Velasco made an appearance in a Lompoc-based Garcia Dance Studios performance during the Santa Barbara County Fair at the Santa Maria Fairpark on Sunday. Local band Banda San Rafael gives a performance at Minetti Arena KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS“What impacted our numbers was there were almost 1,200 animals in 2019,” Ms. Barks said. “This year we had 600. A lot of kids grew up and a lot of kids dropped out” because they no longer had the opportunity to get involved in 4H programs. In 2020, she said, many “got stuck” and had to sell their livestock privately.
“They wanted to wait this year out,” she said.
In 2019, they were able to sell their livestock at auction for about $2.7 million, she said, so with half the animals on hand, they’re likely to make about half that, or $1.35 million.
The sight of a zebra inspired this little girl to pose for a photoOn the other hand, the average price per animal this year is higher than it was back then. “The average animal this year is going for more than what it did per pound in 2019. That’s where the positive comes from.”
New this year is the fair’s “add-on program” in which people can still give to exhibitors online after the animal is sold at auction. “A lot of people want to help multiple kids but not buy multiple animals,” she said. “The ad-on program allows them to help without actually buying the animals.”
One big hit Sunday, the last day of the fair, appeared to be the Fiesta Day concert. “They were really filling up, which is very normal for this really big event for us at the Fairgrounds and for the community,” Ms. Barks said. “They like to come out for Fiesta Day. We had pretty good attendance and sales across the board. Vendors love it.”
A man enjoys ice cream and a nearby woman enjoys glazed popcornIn fact, the food vendors appeared to be the fair’s biggest hit this year.
“It’s all about the carnival food,” including the giant pretzels, giant corn dogs and funnel cakes, she said. “We had more food vendors than ever. We had people want to come out and eat and drink and ride and have fun.”
Also popular were the carnival rides, especially ones like the “Zipper” that appeal to thrill-seekers, she said. And organizers set it up so that the main carnival was available to teens and older, while smaller children and their families could go on rides “without having to bump into youth just hanging out.”
Cows from various persons, organizations, and companies are shown to the public at the fair.On the other hand, this year’s nighttime concerts featuring a series of tribute bands were not as popular as organizers had hoped.
“It was kind of the best choice for us at the time,” she said. “We knew coming out that we would not have a huge budget. They were a lot of fun but we did not fill the seats. We wanted them to maintain our nightly entertainment, and we’re really proud of that.”
email: nhartstein@newspress.com
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