Organizers: DuPage Fair heated up after soggy start

Rain held down attendance during the first two days of the DuPage County Fair, organizers said Monday, but once the clouds cleared, large crowds took advantage of the near-perfect weekend weather.

"(The entrance) gates were spinning with people trying to come," fairgrounds manager Jim McGuire said. "It was perfect. There was a little bit of mud and water to contend with, but we made it work and it worked out quite well."

The annual five-day bash in Wheaton got off to a soggy start, McGuire said, but "it was not as bad as we have had in the past."

McGuire said organizers hope to have final attendance figures in the next few days.

He said the most popular events at this year's fair were traditional standbys such as the rodeo and demolition derby and a new feature, which gave visitors a chance to watch graffiti artist Ryan "Arcy" Christenson paint a giant mural on the wall of the grandstand.

McGuire said cleanup of the fairgrounds along Manchester Road began almost as soon as the fair closed Sunday evening and was largely completed by Monday.

Work to begin planning next year's celebration, he said, will begin in just a few weeks.