Bursting with Excitement
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Weber County Fair offering plethora of new family-friendly attractions
OGDEN -- Weber County Fair officials are hopeful the wide range of exhibits this year will attract large crowds despite the slump in the economy.
The fair is bringing in stingrays, "High School Musical" actor Corbin Bleu and other performances to try to attract fairgoers.
"We have a lot of family events this year," said Jan Wilson, special event manager for Weber County. "There's even a new carnival -- Schoeppner Shows -- from California that is bringing more rides and fun."
Corbin Bleu's performance will be a change from previous years. The fair usually brings in country-western musicians and performers.
"About 15 years ago we got Willie Nelson to come perform," said Craig Dearden, Weber County commissioner. "We haven't sold out (a performance) since he was here."
Wilson said they have already sold 1,100 of 4,000 possible seats for the $20-$25 reserved seat performance on Friday. Parents have said their kids are excited to see Corbin Bleu perform, she said.
The new sea creature exhibit will allow visitors to pay $2 and feed the stingrays right out of their hands. The stingrays and crabs are replacing last year's duck race, but Wilson thinks the exhibit will bring a lot of people.
"How many people can say they've fed a stingray?" she said. "Most of us don't even see them in Utah."
Not all of the attractions are family-based.
The demolition derby, which costs $10 per seat, and Golden Spike Arena motorcycle racing will return from last year.
"We have rodeos (Wednesday) night and motocross the next night. Then we'll have a Disney event with Corbin Bleu (Friday) night and the demolition derby on Saturday night," said Mike Mathieu, chairman of the fair advisory board. "We've tried to create a diverse range of entertainment to reach a broad spectrum of the community."
Mathieu believes the range of activities will bring in more people, which will, in turn, make the fair financially successful.
"It's not our primary motivation, but if a lot of people like the activities, it takes care of the financial aspect," he said.
Cage fighting, which attracted a large crowd last year, will not be back.
"When we contemplated bringing it back, we received (a lot of) complaints that it wasn't family-friendly," Dearden said.
Wilson said it may come to Golden Spike as a separate event from the fair some day.
For now, the fair has enough to worry about with the Salt Lake County fair opening the same day.
Weber County fair officials are optimistic that this year will be a success.
"We've been getting ready for this year since last year's fair ended," Wilson said.
Volunteers and workers are already setting up for when vendors and exhibits arrive.
More than 500 volunteers will be spread around the fairgrounds to ensure that events run smoothly throughout the four days the fair is open to the public.
Steve Gay, maintenance supervisor for Golden Spike Amphitheater, said the real work will begin before the vendors start arriving on Monday
"We'll have to begin setting power for food booths and tents, and transporting chairs and tables for the exhibitions," he said.
Gay, who has worked at the fair for 19 years, said it's a lot of work, but he stays every year.
"When I first came here, I thought I'd never come back to this place, but here I am."
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