Fair adds concerts, seeks carnival

Zack Stoycoff Staff Writer The Claremore Daily Progress Thu Aug 26, 2010, 11:26 AM CDT

CLAREMORE — The county fair isn’t just for little kids and livestock anymore.

Rogers County Fair organizers hope adding “big kid-friendly” inflatable jumpers and nightly concerts will attract all ages to the Claremore ritual — 96 years old when it kicks off Sept. 15.

“We used to have local entertainment and we’re trying to get back to that,” said Lyle Blakley, president of the Rogers County Fair Board. “We’re trying give a broader range of things for people to do, to broaden the age group.”

The Boogie Boys, Kiley Morgan, Oklahoma Stomp and the Red Dirt Rangers will round out this year’s concert offerings — hopefully keeping adults at the fair at night, Blakley said.

The concerts begin at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday Sept. 17 and 18.

Organizers hope concerts will drive up attendance so they can take the next step — attracting a carnival to the fair, Blakley said. That’s been harder than organizers thought when the fair’s last carnival signed off three years ago.

Ron Burrows, vice president of the fair board, told Rogers County commissioners this month that only a handful of carnivals are licensed in Oklahoma. Fairs with more attendance are more likely to attract them, he said.

The county may have to buy a carnival to get one back.

“We’ve tried a variety of ways to get a carnival back,” he told commissioners.

Blakley said getting a carnival is the fair’s priority every year, but it’s been hard to attract one with attendance numbers fluctuating widely. The fair has had to move between Will Rogers Downs and the Claremore Expo Center several times past years — and more attend when it’s at the Expo Center, Blakley said.

And because counties typically have revenue sharing agreements with carnivals, attendance is important if Rogers County is going to take another county’s carnival, he said.

“It’s something we look at every year,” he said. “It’s a year to year thing.”

This year’s new offerings should help.

Blakley said the inflatable jumpers organizers have added are “extreme” — big enough to hold “really big kids.”

A rock climbing wall is also new.

But even as organizers look to attract older attendees, Blakley said they haven’t forgotten the reason for the fair.

“The purpose of the fair is to showcase Rogers County youth,” he said. “All these things are just to bring more people to show them off.”

Blakley said the county has been fortunate because competitors who have succeeded in fair contests have gone on to see state and regional success.

The fair’s archery contest, in its second year this year, is no exception because competitors in last year’s fair have already seen larger success, he said.

The fair will have a full range of animals, some of them presented in shows. A sheep show will highlight Thursday, Sept 16. Speed horse events also will be on that Thursday.

Saturday, Sept. 18, will feature horse and cattle shows.

Traditional offerings like baked goods, home economics, flowers and fine arts booths will fill the Expo Center during the fair, as will, of course, offbeat contests like archery and canning.

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