GEDDES -- It was a first of its kind at the State Fair grandstand Wednesday night: professional boxing. Sandy Cole and her husband say they got great seats for $20."Well we just thought we would just like to see a boxing match at the fair," Cole said. "We thought it would be something different."
Fair officials knew they'd have to do different things this year to keep people coming to the fairgrounds in this tough economy. They made the decision to go from 11 concerts at the grandstand to seven and bulk up Chevy Court, where entertainment is free. While the crowd Wednesday night was smaller at the grandstand, just like families, the fair has an entertainment budget as well.
When asked how the decisions this year are affecting attendance, the fair's Marketing & Public Relations Director Fred Pierce said, "I think so far we've been holding our own. One day was a little slow because we didn't have any grandstand concert; overall we're up over 30,000 right now."
This year there's been big name entertainment at Chevy Court like Sara Evans, and more concerts with two different performers each day. After the fair is done, officials will take a look at the changes and evaluate what worked and what didn't.
