A tornado nearly toppled Erie (N.Y.) County Fair three weeks before it opened; fairgoers came out in near-record numbers to see the $3 million in damage.
The upside to a tornado that takes place three weeks before the fair opens and causes $3-million in damage is the number of fairgoers who want to check out the grounds. Attendees who turned out in near-record numbers that gave the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, N.Y., its second-highest gate in history found a facility that had been patched up and was ready to go.
Attendance was 1,193,279, compared to last year’s 983,000, said CEO Denny Lang.
“We were the topic of discussion for two weeks,” he said. However, it was not enough to make up for the $3-million in damage and the fair will have to dip into its rainy-day fund to pay for repairs to the roofs of several buildings, including the East Grandstand, which was undergoing renovations and was 80-percent complete when the July 19 tornado hit.
The roof “was completely ripped off the structure,” he said. The tornado was rated an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, Lang said.
Additionally, 250 cars were totaled, including those of three employees, and others suffered a great deal of damage. Fifty trees also were destroyed. “Basically what we did is emergency repairs,” Lang said. “Now that the fair is over, we will go back and restructure it all and replace roofs. We patched things up before the fair and now we have to go in and replace it.”
The fair had insurance but it will not cover tree debris removal, plus the facility has to ante up for two pricey deductibles, Lang said. The tornado struck at 12:30 p.m. and there was a horse show going on at the time, plus the on-site Hamburg Gaming had 2,000 people inside. No people or horses were injured, Lang said.
By the time the Aug. 9-20 fair rolled around, fairgoers were ready to have fun and ride grosses were up 17 percent in spite of the tornado as well as a deadly Fireball accident at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus that Lang says affected carnival presales that took place at Tops Friendly Markets.
The Orlando, Fla.-based James E. Strates Shows placed about 70 rides on the midway, Lang said, although not the KMG-produced Fireball, which is out of commission by order of the manufacturer for now, Lang said. Fairgoers could purchase pay-one-price wristbands that cost $25 on weekdays and $40 on weekends.
People were very concerned about the Ohio State Fair ride accident, Lang said. “That’s what everyone wanted to talk about, the tornado and the ride accident. But once they got into fair-mode, they were not worrying about the accident.”
The fair puts on a mix of ticketed and free concerts in the 7,000-seat Gusto Grandstand, sponsored by the Buffalo News. Paid concerts ranged in price from $25 to $60.
The ticketed show featuring Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy did well, but singer/songwriter Jason Derulo was soft, Lang said. Rock of the 70s and Happy Together, both ticketed, also did well.
KISS tribute Mr. Speed and the double bill of John Conlee and the Bellamy Brothers, both free acts, were both well-attended. The fair also offered five nights of demolition derbies, tractor pulls and motocross.
Gate admission cost $10, which has been the same for the past eight years, Lang said. Children under the age of 12 got in for free. Lang declined to disclose budgets and revenue figures, noting that the private fair does not give out that information. The year-round budget is $8 million.
These days, marketing focuses more on social media and less on newspapers, television and radio, Lang said. Holly Smyczynski, the fair’s marketing manager, said that in addition to Facebook and Instagram, the fair used Snapchat this year for the first time.
The app that fairgoers could use for the past four years to navigate the grounds, as well as the food choices, continued to grow in popularity, Lang added. Smyczynski also noted that the app allowed fairgoers to, among other things, vote for their favorite new fair foods.
“Each August, we gain an average of 7,000 new users and the average amount of page views is over 1 million,” Smyczynski said.
The new foods included Italian Sausage Lollipops, Homemade Kettle Corn Ice Cream, Crab Stuffed Mushroom Pierogis, deep-fried ricotta-battered doughnuts drizzled with Nutella, Stuffed Hot Pepper Mac & Cheese, Deer Burger Deluxe and Balsamic Bruschetta on Rustic Flatbread. The pierogis sold the best, Smyczynski added. Food and drink revenues were up 8.7 percent, Lang noted.
Parking at the 265-acre grounds costs $5 a-car and in addition to the 12,000 on-site parking spots, the fair leases property across the street that handles another 8,000 vehicles, Lang said.
Next year’s dates will be Aug. 8-19. That event will be managed by new CEO Jessica Underberg, who will be taking the reins from the retiring Lang on Jan. 1. Underberg has served as the assistant manager for the past five years and has worked at the fairgrounds for 20 years, Lang said.