Outdoor Recreation - Fairs And Carnivals

Americans have long loved agricultural fairs that feature displays of prize-winning farm animals, crafts, vegetables, and baked goods, along with midways filled with rides and food vendors selling such treats as elephant ears and corn dogs. Traveling carnival operators that provide the midway attractions for such fairs also set up shop in temporary locations such as school or church parking lots to bring this quintessential form of American outdoor entertainment to those in urban areas.

The top five fairs in North America in 2003, according to Amusement Business, were the State Fair of Texas, with more than three million visitors; the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, with 1.7 million; the Minnesota State Fair, with 1.7 million; the Los Angeles County Fair, with 1.3 million; and the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, with 1.3 million.

Overall attendance at the top fifty fairs was more than 43.2 million, down slightly from the almost forty-four million counted in 2002 and very close to the figure reported for 2001. The 2003 decline was primarily attributed to new counting methods at several fairs, which saw large drops in reported attendance although revenue figures had stayed the same. Several fairs did record poor results because of weather and other circumstances, however, including the Canadian National Expositions in Toronto and Ottawa and the Michigan State Fair in Detroit, all of which were forced to cancel portions of their schedules because of a massive power outage that struck the eastern half of North America in August 2003.

The carnival operators that supplied the rides at the top fifty North American fairs reported a slight drop in business during 2003, with their total customers falling from 38.1 million to 37.4 million. The leading carnival operator, Conklin Shows, served 6.7 million customers at eight major fairs during 2003.