2015 Nebraska State Fair

[jessep28]

The Newsboys have been booked to play at the Nebraska State Fair on September 3rd.

Nebraska State Fair books big music act

[Linkin5]

Man that sounds awful.

[Candleshoe]

Concert Line-up for 2015

(note that the "$6 convenience fee" has taken the place of the formerly "free" general admission concerts. The fee covers the cost of reserved seating tickets and guarantees admission along with avoiding the long waits in line to get in and fighting over people saving a full row of seats for their friends, etc...

Jerrod Niemann Concert
Friday, August 28, 2015 8:00 p.m.
Fonner Park Race Track Infield
$6 Convenience Fee; $30 Fan Club plus gate admission

Keith Urban Concert
Saturday, August 29, 2015 8:00 p.m.
Fonner Park Race Track Infield
$60 General Admission; $90 Pit area; plus gate and fees

Tony Orlando Concert 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, September 2, 201511:00 a.m.
Heartland Event Center
$6 Convenience Fee; $30 Fan Club plus gate admission

Tony Orlando Concert 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 3:00 p.m.
$6 Convenience Fee; $30 Fan Club plus gate admission

Newsboys
Thursday, September 3, 20157:30 p.m.
Heartland Event Center
$6 Convenience Fee; $30 Fan Club plus gate admission

Huey Lewis and The News Concert
Friday, September 4, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$20 plus fees and gate admission

Terry Fator Concert
Saturday, September 5, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$20 plus gate and fees

Jake Owen Concert
Sunday, September 6, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$30 plus fees and gate admission

[Candleshoe]

The Hay Bale decorating contest returns to the State Fair. A few of the 32 hay bales competing around Grand Island right now.

In front of the South Locust Goodwill store

Nebraska State Fair Hay Bale decorating contest by Joe, on Flickr

A Minion on South Locust (would be a great title for something...)

Nebraska State Fair Hay Bale decorating contest by Joe, on Flickr

At Boys Town on South Hwy 281

Nebraska State Fair Hay Bale decorating contest by Joe, on Flickr

[Candleshoe]

Pretty good crowd for a Saturday morning

DSC_6631 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6646 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6583.NEF by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6523 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6656 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6686 by Joe, on Flickr

[skinzfan23]

Thanks for the pictures...I always love your pictures from the fair.

[MTO]

Soo glad this is out-state, a MECA for "people of Walmart".

[Linkin5]

Soo glad this is out-state, a MECA for "people of Walmart".

What's sad is we know you're not some 14 year old trying to troll, you actually believe this.

[Candleshoe]

More from the 2015 State Fair

I found a pumpkin...

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Newborn draws a crowd...

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

And the sun sets on the first weekend of the 2015 edition of the Nebraska State Fair...

Sun sets on the first weekend of the Nebraska State Fair by Joe, on Flickr

[MTO]

Audacious displays of animal cruelty, terrible.

[Brad]

Nice photos Joe!

Are Case IH and New Holland the same company?

[Candleshoe]

Nice photos Joe!

Are Case IH and New Holland the same company?

They sure are, Brad. The red combine sported the exact same signage.

[Candleshoe]

A few more...

DSC_6879 by Joe, on Flickr

And I love candids, so here are a few from the fair.

DSC_6476 by Joe, on Flickr

Deb Fischer gives an interview

DSC_6586 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6690 by Joe, on Flickr

DSCN8985 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6835 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6842 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_6771 by Joe, on Flickr

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

DSC_7027 by Joe, on Flickr

[skinzfan23]

Nice work again.

[Candleshoe]

State Fair attendance for the first four days

Year...........2015 /2014 /2013
Friday.......19,907 /15,021 /16,279
Saturday....61,855 /45,572 /43,145
Sunday......25,969 /25,081 /31,125
Monday.....13,060 /14,427 /14,583
Total...... 120,791 /100,101 /105,132

[Brad]

Wow, numbers are looking good so far. I am sure the nice weather is helping.

Joe, whats the model train display? Permanent like the Iowa State fair or a modular exhibit?

[Candleshoe]

Wow, numbers are looking good so far. I am sure the nice weather is helping.

Joe, whats the model train display? Permanent like the Iowa State fair or a modular exhibit?

It's the local club's 120 foot modular display, Brad. They show all over the Tri Cities with monthly programs. Their permanent home is in the old Burlington depot in GI.

https://www.facebook.com/TCMRA

[Brad]

Cool! Thanks for the link!

[skinzfan23]

Nebraska State Fair attendance up 20 percent so far; Keith Urban concert draws almost 12,000

Attendance was up nearly 21 percent during its first four days compared to last year.
Saturday’s crowd of 61,855 was the fair’s third largest ever in Grand Island. The sale of 11,780 tickets to country star Keith Urban’s outdoor concert Saturday boosted turnout, said Joseph McDermott, the fair’s executive director.
The Omaha metropolitan area accounted for 1,088 concertgoers, and Lincoln contributed 734. Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney totaled 3,564.
The four-day turnout of 120,791 fairgoers compares to 100,101 who attended the first four days a year ago, McDermott said.
Opening day attendance on Friday was up 32.5 percent from the same day last year.
Saturday’s attendance was up 35.7 percent, Sunday was up 3.5 percent, and Monday’s attendance was down 9.5 percent compared to the same days in 2014.

[nebugeater]

What was the feedback like locally for the Keith Urban Concert. I know a couple of people from Omaha that went. Their reviews were almost polar opposite. From the Neg side I was told that it was unorganized, Allowing people with chairs and people with blankets to set up in the same areas. Couldn't see anything of the stage from most areas. Sound was not good. From the other person it was none of these issues. The neg reviews were from someone that takes most things in stride and usually is not a complainer.

[nebugeater]

Great photos by the way!

[Candleshoe]

What was the feedback like locally for the Keith Urban Concert. I know a couple of people from Omaha that went. Their reviews were almost polar opposite. From the Neg side I was told that it was unorganized, Allowing people with chairs and people with blankets to set up in the same areas. Couldn't see anything of the stage from most areas. Sound was not good. From the other person it was none of these issues. The neg reviews were from someone that takes most things in stride and usually is not a complainer.

Nebraska State Fair 2015 by Joe, on Flickr

From the folks I know who went, it was virtually all positive, especially the sound. Reviewing comments on area media Facebook pages, it was mostly positive as well, other getting lost when returning from the beer tents or portapotties. Reviewing comments on Lincoln TV Facebook pages it was about 50/50 good and bad. Many on the Lincoln TV site had remarks about "nobody told me it would be outdoors", "nobody told me you could bring lawnchairs", "nobody told me about the shuttles", "why wasn't there reserved seating?", etc. I think a little investigation into a concert you just spent $60 for a ticket is on you... But, to be fair, a lot of folks on the Lincoln site were quite happy.

The concert was arranged using mostly out of market expertise as well as the promoter, from the sound, stage and lighting to the recommended layout and policies. The grounds, using a defined offset portion of the Fonner track infield with the infield lake being a natural side border, were estimated to hold 14,000 capacity with a mix of standing, lawnchair and bleacher seating. The city of GI had inspectors in Fonners pressbox monitoring the crowds and came to the conclusion that the 12,000 people on the grounds pretty much maxed out the space. The changes they're planning are to establish some sort of fenced aisles (assuming people will respect them) and possibly add more bleacher seating. They'll also try to expand the overall space so there is more open space around the vendor tents. They accommodated 2,000 butts in seats at the back of the grounds with the bleachers and used a tall stage to allow for max visibility, however, with any flat space, short people behind tall people and seated people behind standing people are always going to lose. The good news is that there were no arrests for anything, although there were three medical emergencies.

There were issues with traffic too. Turns out a huge portion of the concert attendees arrived late in the day, so they virtually all used the east side parking lots which are designed for overflow and only have two outlets with everybody wanting to turn south towards the Interstate, as opposed to the west parking lots that have multiple exits in any direction. The majority of them wanted to leave right away, so that traffic situation took around 90 minutes. There are four offsite parking lots with free shuttle buses that were available as well.

It was suggested that next year they do pre-flight instructions on where everything is, how to maneuver the grounds, respect the aisles, etc.
As far as the sound, I really haven't heard a single complaint. The video screens were an issue though... they weren't up yet when I took that photo, but some folks believed they could have been higher. In viewing a newspaper shot, they were only slightly higher than stage level.

In talking to one State Fair official, he said they needed to sell roughly 10,000 tickets to be OK paying the bills. 14,000 would make them insanely happy, but as it turned out, that could have been a disaster, potentially along the likes of Cincinnati. They sold around 11,780, so they were very OK. There was a Friday Jerrod Niemann concert as well, with $6 admission that drew under 3,000, which was really designed to be a test run.

They plan on doing it again next year, maybe with two big nights. That's all up to the board to decide after the dust settles.

[Candleshoe]

2015 attendance was



2006 ............. 289,683
2007 ............ 299,175
2008 ............ 309,137
2009* ........... 367,000
2010 ............ 309,000
2011 ............ 333,043
2012 ............ 336,987
2013 ............ 334,931
2014 ............ 317,785
2015 ............ 352,176

* Final year in Lincoln

[Coyote]

This really pleasantly surprises me, and almost begs a question...
When I went to the Lincoln NSF, I went for the entertainment, as I would suspect many of us city people did...
I have to wonder now... What did the visitors go to the 2015 NSF for?
And, what should officially recognized State Fairs promote... Official Nebraska agricultural products/produce...
Or is it a yearly amusement park experience...
By moving it to the Tri-Cities did it intentionally want to promote the former/historical...?

[Candleshoe]

This really pleasantly surprises me, and almost begs a question...
When I went to the Lincoln NSF, I went for the entertainment, as I would suspect many of us city people did...
I have to wonder now... What did the visitors go to the 2015 NSF for?
And, what should officially recognized State Fairs promote... Official Nebraska agricultural products/produce...
Or is it a yearly amusement park experience...
By moving it to the Tri-Cities did it intentionally want to promote the former/historical...?

Precisely! Here's a quote from the World Herald from this past Sunday...

As generations go on, Kruse said, people are getting further from the farm and where their food comes from. If the fair can attract people who want to see acrobats, go to a motor sports event or sing along to a country act, those people might also stop by the birthing pavilion or milking parlor and see the livestock.

“Our real hope is (that the entertainment is) going to bring, we think, a whole lot of people to the grounds that normally wouldn’t maybe come to the fair,” Kruse said. “And then we get a chance to educate them about agriculture and all of the other things the fair stands for and has for 100-some years.”

Drawing a variety of people and giving them a sense of the state’s roots are really what the fair is about, he said.

“We want to be there for everybody,” Kruse said. “We are the State Fair.”

At the new location, there's a return to showing off farm equipment too. Tractors and combines and such were getting pretty scarce the last few years in Lincoln as vendors deemed it not worth the trouble. At GI, even with the generous space for the big stuff, there's a waiting list to bring equipment out to show. Having Husker Harvest Days just several days later doesn't hurt a thing either as the vendors can do two major shows in a row in the same county.

[Coyote]

Thanks! I had not thought of that approach...

[nebugeater]

What happened to the Nebraska based food companies at the GI version of the NSF this year. There were a few in their area but a lot fewer than most years. They set up in one corner of the 4-H / FFA building giving out samples and selling their products. This year the space used was about the same but many of the products / vendors were from out of state. There were a bunch that have been repeats for many years and carry over from Lincoln that were not there this year. Found that a bit disappointing.

[Candleshoe]

What happened to the Nebraska based food companies at the GI version of the NSF this year. There were a few in their area but a lot fewer than most years. They set up in one corner of the 4-H / FFA building giving out samples and selling their products. This year the space used was about the same but many of the products / vendors were from out of state. There were a bunch that have been repeats for many years and carry over from Lincoln that were not there this year. Found that a bit disappointing.

That, I don't know. I did hear that they did some minor shuffling of vendors from the 4H building to the Pinnacle Expo building and vice versa, but frankly I just didn't spend much time in the vendor areas of those two buildings this year. Too congested when we dropped in.

From the GI Independent

Last year, the new Nebraska Building opened up room for more commercial vendors at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center. This year, ongoing development of the East Entertainment Area has opened up more space for outdoor vendors.

Parr said there are around 600 commercial vendors both indoors and outdoors at the Nebraska State Fair.

“We are full,” she said. “We have a waiting list indoors and out.”

The two main indoor commercial exhibition spaces are the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center, with nearly 300 booth spaces; and the 4-H and FFA Exhibition Building, which has 85 booths.