MARION COUNTY — Organizers of this year's county fair reported steady attendance across four days, alongside what they described as unprecedented public interest in indoor spaces.
Temperatures reached 94 degrees Friday.
“People came,” the fair director said. “Then they went inside.”
The commerce building, which houses insurance booths and a display of storm windows, recorded its highest foot traffic in fair history.
“They weren't looking at the windows,” one exhibitor said.
The livestock barn, ventilated and shaded, was widely identified as the most comfortable structure on the grounds, a fact organizers said was noted repeatedly by visitors who had no interest in livestock.
Ride attendance declined slightly. Lemonade sales rose 22 percent.
The pie competition proceeded as scheduled, with judging moved indoors.
Organizers said planning for next year has begun and will include a tent.
