Salem Fair sets revenue record, despite five rainy days
The Salem Fair, which concluded Sunday, breaks its revenue record after having an off year in 2012.
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Foul weather didn’t keep people away from the Salem Fair this year, as the event set an all-time record for revenue.
Carey Harveycutter, the fair’s manager and Salem’s director of civic facilities, wouldn’t give the exact amount taken in by ride operators — a percentage of which is paid to the city — but said it was 6 percent higher than the previous record year in 2010.
Fair receipts were down last year between the derecho storm and subsequent power outages just before the fair and the intense heat wave that continued after it, he said.
This year’s 12-day fair saw revenue increases on eight nights compared with the same nights last year, and the first Saturday of the fair proved to be the biggest money-making day in the event’s 26-year history, according to a city of Salem news release.
On that day, ride receipts jumped 51 percent compared with the same day in 2012, the release said. Sunday, the last day of the fair, was also the highest revenue Sunday in fair history.
Harveycutter said rain affected fair attendance on five days, but on days when the weather was good, crowds more than made up for those kept away by the rain. Harveycutter estimated more than 300,000 people attended the fair, which does not charge admission at the gate.
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
9. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
10. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
THE ROANOKE TIMES
