Excessive humidity and the threat of storms kept attendance numbers at the 169th Lake County Fair below those of 2019 after a year hiatus in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We think we did very well considering two pretty much washout days with rain and two days where there were severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings,” Arlene Marcinek, fair secretary, said.
Total attendance in 2021 was 203,561, which is about 13,000 less than in 2019.
“The humidity was absolutely horrendous,” Marcinek said of the 10-day event that ran Aug. 6-15. Other factors including the return of many Lake County students to school also affected attendance.
Aug. 14 was the busiest day of the fair with more than 35,000 people showing up for one of the final days of fun.
“There were very, very long lines for food, rides and games. Everybody seemed to be very happy,” Marcinek said.
Saturday’s attendance was a couple thousand shy of the single-day attendance record set in 2003 when 37,849 visited the fair. In 2004, the fair experienced its record year with 267,152 attending.
In those days, Marcinek said, the fair had additional parking adjacent to the fairgrounds in the farmland west of Lake Street. Today that area is filled with new homes. Shuttle buses from Crown Point High School help with parking overflow when the remaining lots at the fairgrounds fill.
Marcinek said the fair board followed Indiana State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in planning the fair with consideration of the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19. There were no gathering restrictions, but fair organizers did increase the number of hand sanitizing stations available for visitors and posted signs encouraging those with concerns to mask and social distance.
“We did see people walking around out here with masks on. Our signage asked people to please be courteous,” she said.
Marcinek said anecdotally there appeared to be more newcomers to the fair this year. The fair office fielded more calls than usual about the location and more questions from visitors, she said.
“It seems like there were a lot of people who have not been here to know the lay of the land,” she said.
Tom Lump, president of the 12-member Lake County Fair board, said the event went well with few problems. One tree was struck by lightning, but no one was injured.
“The storms really kind of skirted around us. There was a little rain, but it wasn’t a complete washout. The heat hit during the week, but the weekends were nice,” Lump said.
Workers continue to clean up the fairgrounds. It will take about two weeks before all signs of the annual event are gone until next year.
Lump said the board will have a wrap up meeting going over the details of this year’s event. Planning for 2022 will begin at the next meeting.
“We will discuss a lot of things: proposed changes, how it will impact the fair and what fairgoers want,” Lump said.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
