Opinion

Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2008

Editorial: Mid-State Fair is a great state fair; don’t miss it

Comments (0) |

Record-high gas prices are persuading many vacationers to stick close to home this summer — no surprise there — making this an uncertain season for our local tourism industry.

It was encouraging, then, to learn that advance ticket sales to the Mid-State Fair, which opens Wednesday in Paso Robles, are stronger than ever.

As Tribune writer Leah Etling reported Sunday, concert ticket sales are up by 9,000 when compared with past years, and general admission ticket sales are up as well.

Another positive sign: While Paso Robles hotel operators reported some cancellations from guests who booked rooms a year or so ago — back when gas prices were more palatable — they were getting new bookings for those rooms.

Such keen interest in the Mid-State Fair is especially impressive when you consider what’s been happening at county fairs in other parts of the state.

Just last week, the Santa Barbara County Fair closed in Santa Maria with attendance off by 4.5 percent. At other fairs, attendance was up, but spending on rides, food and other attractions was down.

Of course, it’s too early to predict whether the 2008 Mid-State Fair will break attendance records.

But we don’t think it’s premature to credit Mid-State Fair CEO Vivian Robertson and her staff, as well as the fair’s board of directors, for their continued successes.

Year after year, they manage to book many of the top names in the entertainment industry; Fergie, John Mayer, Toby Keith, Matchbox Twenty, Rod Stewart and Boz Scaggs are among the performers in this year’s lineup of grandstand concerts.

Nor do event organizers scrimp when it comes to providing plenty of more traditional county fair attractions — livestock exhibits, free entertainment, rodeo, carnival rides and vendors selling everything from kitchen mops to handbags. In short, there’s something for everyone, and that’s made the fair one of the most enduringly attractions on the Central Coast, as well as one of the most financially successful.

A 2002 report estimated SLO County’s total economic benefit from the fair and other attractions at the Paso Robles Event Center at nearly $38 mil-lion. No doubt, it’s even higher today.

For those of us lucky enough to live in SLO County, the Mid-State Fair is a summertime attraction that’s hard to beat; we urge you to spend a day in your own backyard and visit the California Mid-State Fair.