”
Everything went really well,
”
said Kelley Ferreira, chief executive officer and fairgrounds
manager, of this year’s San Benito County Fair.
He said the exact attendance for this year’s fair, which
concluded Sunday, is still being tabulated, but he expects it to
possibly be more than last year.
“Everything went really well,” said Kelley Ferreira, chief executive officer and fairgrounds manager, of this year’s San Benito County Fair.
He said the exact attendance for this year’s fair, which concluded Sunday, is still being tabulated, but he expects it to possibly be more than last year.
Ferreira said there were so many people who came to the fair on Saturday that they had to close the main parking area because there was not enough room to fit any more cars in the lot.
“We closed the parking lot at 2 p.m. (Saturday) so we started shuttling the rest into the secondary parking lot. Usually I don’t have to start dealing with parking issues until 5 p.m.” Ferreira said. “A lot of fairs were down in attendance this year, hopefully we’re a little bit higher than before.”
He said the four-day event was helped by temperate weather that was enjoyable without being harsh.
“We had a lot of compliments this year on the fair, and it looks like we had a lot of new faces,” Ferreira said.
He said the idea of adding new items and updating portions of the annual autumn event included bringing in some new vendors and adding more booths to the food court.
“We had some new booths and new exhibitors this year and they were all very pleased with the way things went and said they wanted to come back next year,” Ferreira said. “The food booths did really well, they were very happy.”
Vendors were not the only ones who were pleased with the fair, many of the people who went to the county fairgrounds thought the event was better than recent years.
“I think the fair turned out really well this year. It was much bigger than it has been in previous years and the truck pulls on Saturday night were great,” said Hollister resident Vince Cardinalli.
For Felipe Rea, 32, the fair is something that he has looked forward to as a welcome break in his daily routine.
“There’s really not that much to do in Hollister except for the fair and the carnival,” Rea said. “It’s also fun to bring the kids to.”
Rea, who was born and raised in Hollister, said he has been to the event every year for almost his entire life.
While many fairgoers were focusing their attention on the carnival and the entertainment on the main stage, a number of 4-H and FFA youth were showing off months of care, feeding and labor at the Junior Livestock Auction.
“The Livestock Auction did really well this year, we had lots of new entries,” Ferreira said.
The Junior Livestock Auction is the culmination of a continuous project for the young people who are members of 4-H and FAA. Livestock must be purchased, fed, provided good veterinary care, trained and groomed.
He said the livestock projects are beneficial in teaching youth about responsibility, work ethics and business.
Complete San Benito County Fair results will be published in the Free Lance later this week.
