About 418,000 Visited This Year's Alameda County Fair

The slow economy couldn't stop the fun for Alameda County Fair visitors.

Fair officials said the Alameda County Fair attracted about 418,000 visitors. While attendance failed to surpass last year's record by three percent, the figure is the second highest in 20 years.

"We had a such a phenominal year in 2009, we just hoped to even match it given the current condition of the economy," said April Mitchell, spokesperson fro the Alameda County Fair.

Additional days for horse racing and a 4th of July Holiday weekend, were reasons why the Fair was successful this year, Mitchell said.

Fairgoers also had plenty of activities and events to keep them busy during the 17-day event.

Events such as where kids under 60 pounds ride sheep, and an environmental-themed contest allowed for some new activities for youth.

Food competitions such as the annual hot dog eating contest, rib cook-off and the gumbo cooking contests were popular among the fairgoers. Visitors also packed the Festival Square area during the culturally-themed weekends, which included Fiesta Hispania, Americana Music and Spice of India.

The fair also received more than 16,000 entries for in competitve exhibits, up two percent from last year.

But this year's fair was not without a few glitches. On July 1, a chain in one of the park's kiddie ride broke and caused minor injuries to seven people, including five children.

The next night, more than 70 patrons were stung by wasps when the annual fireworks show disturbed a ground nest.

Tina Marie Perry, from Pleasanton, said hearing about the incidents was upsetting, but ultimately didn't affect her decision to attend the event.

"It makes you fearful," she said. ".. but accidents happen. It would never stop me from coming. I love the fair."

Kevin Price, of Fremont, echoed the same sentiment.

"That's out of your control," he said. "That could happen anywhere.

But Price did take issue with this year's admissions and parking fees, which he described as steep.

Mitchell said because of the current economy, there was larger effort this year to offer promotions and discounts.

Organizers put together contests on Facebook,  gave out coupons and held one fundraising event for the Alameda County food bank, where participants got lower admission fees if they bring in non-perishable food items. The event collected more than five tons of food.

"It takes time and effort to respond and interact with all our fans but it's also important to us to reward those fans with discounts and great offers to the Fair," Mitchell said about connecting with fairgoers through social media.

The impacts of the economy could be seen at the race tracks. Amounts wagered were 10 percent less.

Still, fair officials said they were pleased with Live Racing results, considering cancelled days of racing at Hollywood Park, track closures on the East Coast due extreme heat, the economy and a focus on the World Cup.

"In this difficult economy, we are honored that so many people chose to invest their time with family and friends at the Fair this summer," Rick Pickering, CEO of the Alameda County Fair Association, said in a statement.

Besides the Wacky Worm ride malfunction and wasp swarm, the fair went smoothly, according to J.D. Nelson, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, which oversees security inside the fairgrounds.

"We always have a great experience collaborating with the fire department and fair staff," he said. "The work we do together really helps us respond to incidents quickly and efficiently."

The most unexpected incident was the swarm of wasps that attacked fairgoers, Nelson said, but authorities were able to respond quickly.

"Helping fairgoers is easier when you have a system in place and implement it right away when trouble happens," he said. "For us the priorities are always to stop the problem and get the victims treated. Acting on those two priorities helped us take address problems right away."

The Alameda County Sheriff's Department averaged about one arrest each day of the fair, according to Nelson. He said these incidents are usually alcohol-related.

"Considering the hundreds of thousands that come to the fair we feel that statistic makes it one of the safest summer events around," he said. "We're very pleased with how successful this year's fair was."

Fair officials also released the following fun facts:

• Corn Dogs – 79,882 consumed
• Funnel Cakes – 21,437 consumed
• Shaved Ices – 10,312 consumed
• Turkey Legs – 5,026 consumed
• Cinnamon Rolls – 5,113 consumed
• Donations to the Alameda County Food Bank – more than 5 tons of foodJr.
• Livestock Auction - $495,284 (average amount per animal up 4%)
• Total Entries of Competitive Exhibits – 16,185 up 2%
• Total Competitive Exhibitors – 4,237 down 4% (many people enter more than one entry)

Charles Nguyen contributed to this report.