Organizers call Lake County Fair a success
Sunny skies and tweaks in the offerings made the 2017 Lake County Fair one of the most successful since it relocated nine years ago to its new home at Peterson and Midlothian roads in Grayslake, organizers say.
"We were lucky again with five perfect days of weather," said John Maguire, director of business development and marketing for the Lake County Fair Association, the nonprofit that operates the annual event as its biggest fundraiser.
"Just based on the volume of Coca-Cola products (sold) and empty beer kegs, that will be in the plus column," he added. The fair ended Sunday.
Weather is a big factor on attendance in any given year, with storms or excessive heat limiting attendance. Officials used to provide a crowd estimate but that was an educated guess, Maguire said. Based on the variety of ticket sources, dissecting the exact 2017 numbers will take time, he added.
But based on observations and experience, "We were pretty close to one of our better fairs since we've been on the property," Maguire said.
For the first time, the fair featured a musical act that required a separate admission price in addition to a fair ticket. About 2,000 tickets were sold for the Friday performance of LoCash, Country Aircheck's No. 1 new artist for 2016.
Another feature was a new, permanent motocross track built on the south end of the facility will be used more than just at fair time.
A mission of the organization since it moved from its longtime home at routes 45 and 120 in Grayslake was to consistently host year-round activities and events. In February, the association finally sold acreage for development that had been acquired in the move.
"We've gone from 165 acres down to 120 acres. That's still huge and enough property to do all our functions," according to Maguire.
Original plans included several more buildings and performance areas than were built. The fair board is considering options.
Meanwhile, the fair association has forged a partnership with the Lake County Farm Heritage Association, which after 25 years at the Lakewood Forest Preserve will move its annual event to the fairgrounds Sept. 23 and 24.
"We're calling it Lake County Harvest Festival. It will be a whole new event," Maguire said.
While the overall tone of the fair was favorable, there still were a few issues. Overflow parking was needed and became snarled Sunday afternoon for the demolition derby.
"We're going to have to do some work with the county and Grayslake and come up with some traffic options," Maguire said.