Every year the Evergreen State Fair dominates the northwest corner of Monroe with a flurry of lights, carnival rides, animals, music, games, high-speed race track entertainment and too many fair delicacies to list. This year, despite the challenging weather, fair attendance held its own.
According to Evergreen State Fairgrounds Manager Hal Gausman, overall attendance from opening day on Thursday, Aug. 27, through Monday, Sept. 7, topped out at 321,322. This was down 4.2 percent from the fair's five-year average of 335,534.
"We believe the lower number is due to the weather and some kids going back to school,GÇ¥ Gausman said. "The fair is impacted by weather just like the thousands of farmers that take part in fair activities.GÇ¥
The lowest attendance took place on Thursday, Sept. 3, with only 13,955 guests willing to endure the rainy weather. But fair enthusiasts made up for it on Saturday, Sept. 5, by setting a new attendance record for the highest single-day attendance, with a total of 52,095 fairgoers. This significantly surpassed the previous single-day attendance record of 46,273, set in 2014.
During recent years, the Evergreen State Fair has engaged in a sustainability call-to-action, earning a reputation for being "green.GÇ¥ Recycle bins are abundant throughout the fairgrounds, and fair staff is tasked with keeping the fairgrounds picked up and free of debris.
Last year, the fair implemented its "Zero WasteGÇ¥ initiative, which is to divert 100 percent of fair waste out of county landfills by 2017.
Gausman said he plans to work closely with the Monroe Police Department next year to improve traffic flow during the 12-day event.
For more information on the Evergreen State Fair, visit www.evergreenfair.org/27/The-Fair.
Photo by Chris Hendrickson Ten-month-old Alejandro Manuel Acevedo enjoyed his first ever fair experience on Sunday, Sept. 6. Alejandro and his parents, Enrique and Leana, live near Seattle.
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