Local Vibe

The following story ran in the London Free Press regarding the dramatic drop in visitors to the 2010 Western Fair.

Whither Western Fair?

Fresh off what’s expected to be a money-losing 135th edition of the 10-day annual fair, questions are swirling about its future.

“We probably have to consider rolling with the times and try to make some changes,” Al Marr, chairperson of the Western Fair board, said Wednesday.

Nearly everything is on the table, he said. Among the ideas.

Shorten the fair’s 10-day run.

Operate only on weekends.

Stage it in August or at another time when families aren’t so rushed and stressed with back to school and work after Labour Day.

Families are hard-pressed to find time for the fair in early September, Marr said.

Attendance at the fair that wrapped up Sunday was 178,110, off 18% from last year, but more significantly, down more than 21% from the average in the last decade. And that was 9,000 lower than the rain-soaked 2008 event which lost about $500,000.

Those numbers are sobering for an event that costs $3 million to stage each year.

“It’s going to be a tough year financially,” said Hugh Mitchell, chief executive of the Western Fair Association.

Final financials will not be known until November, he said.

Ending the fair’s run is not in the cards — yet.

“I don’t see that (cancellation) in the immediate future,” Marr said. “I think we are going to continue as a fair. It’s our signature event, it still is. Other things generate more income, but it still is.”

Western Fair Association is like no other operation in Canada, Mitchell said. Aside from the annual fair, the association operates harness racing, slot machines, a sportsplex and agriplex. The fair stages annual events that attract tens of thousands of visitors to a wide range of events that include the Farm Show, and poultry, food and wine events.

“We don’t foresee the fair not operating,” Mitchell said, “but we do see changing it to re-adapt ourselves to the changing entertainment needs of the public. This business is very market-driven.”

Marr said a dozen or so strategic planning meetings have been held during the past year.

Though once a dominant activity, the fair struggles to break even each year and other activities such as the slots operation have eclipsed its impact on the association’s bottom line.

The dip in attendance this year came despite having only three days in which rain or showers made a brief appearance. The soggy 2008 event saw rain during six of its 10 days.

Several new events and activities were tried to lure fairgoers, including three days of harness racing, a 30th anniversary of the Youth Talent search and a Panorama Pavilion showcasing local cultural communities.

Marr said the state of the economy and some bad publicity about the fair’s plans to charge the disabled likely had some effect on attendance.

For his part, Mitchell said the fair industry across Canada “is a very mature product” well along in its life cycle and must consider what it is doing and why.

The entertainment business, he said, is “in these difficult and capricious economic times (and) has to look to its customer base” to chart its way forward.

For the original story, please visit the London Free Press website.

Keeping you Entertained!!!