WATSONVILLE — Cool weather kept the crowd sizes high at this year’s Santa Cruz County Fair, with an estimated five percent more visitors flocking to the event, compared to last year, according to fair board member Jody Belgard.
“We had a nice turnout,” she said. “Wonderful weather.”
The final attendance numbers have not yet been tallied.
So many people packed the grounds on the weekends that fair officials opened the adjacent racetrack for overflow parking, Belgard said.
The livestock auction, in which young people sell off their animals, set a record, with more than $200,000 raised, according to Belgard.
She said an attempt to save money and reduce paper consumption by not printing the fair display guidelines catalogue led to a drop in the number of submissions this year.
Normally, fair officials distribute the catalogues at feed stores, libraries and other locations throughout the county, resulting in an abundance of entries and a packed J. J. Crosetti Building.
Not so this year, Belgard said.
“I think it showed in the reduced amount of entries in all categories,” she said. “We’re going to revisit that. Anytime you try something for the first time, there will be problems.”
Still, Belgard thanked the people who filled the fairgrounds for the five-day event.
“We really appreciate every single person who walked through the gate,” she said. “We really appreciate it.”
