Iris Tunis, 10, enjoys launching skyward in a bungee swing at the Santa Cruz County Fair. —Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian

WATSONVILLE—This year’s Santa Cruz County Fair began with a bang, attracting thousands of people to the five-day bacchanalia of food, agriculture and art, and was on track to match last year’s blockbuster attendance.

That changed on Sunday, when a rare late-summer rainstorm doused the region, unleashing more than an inch that kept crowds low and lines short.

Fairgrounds Manager Dave Kegebein reckons that attendance on the last day was 20% of normal.

“It was a big hurt,” he says “There’s no way around it.”

Final attendance numbers won’t be available for a few weeks, Kegebein said. Still, he said that the Fairgrounds likely managed to break even this year.

“We didn’t lose any money, but certainly there wasn’t any chance of making any,” he said.

Previous articleCounty receives funding for Mid-County low-income housing project
Next articleSchool arts funding bill among seven propositions on Nov. 8 ballot
General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here