Nebraska State Fair

[Candleshoe]

The groundbreaking ceremony took place this afternoon at Fonner Park. Dirt work is already in progress.

[Candleshoe]

The plan...

the land shown is just short of a mile in length and a half mile in width.  For a better view, open the pdf here: http://www.statefairgi.com/psd/statefairmap.pdf

[Candleshoe]

Update on the progress of the new Nebraska State Fair in GI


http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 370930.txt

...the 100,000-square-foot commercial exhibit building planned on the grounds will be completed and will be larger than the space available for exhibits at the Devaney Center at the old fairgrounds.

Also, the nearly 340,000 square feet of new livestock exhibit and show space that are now being built at Fonner Park will make the Nebraska State Fair one of the best livestock showcases in the nation.

McDermott also said the new home of the Nebraska State Fair at Fonner Park will be wired to the hilt, making it one of the most technologically advanced state fairs in the United States.

To put the livestock center into perspective, the center building will be the arena and will accommodate a rodeo with grandstand seating for 3,000. National livestock groups are already looking at the facility for future events.



The main commercial exhibit building will be roughly a third larger than the one in the Devaney Center



Two other major buildings are under construction as well, one which will be used for indoor sports activities year round when the fair is not going on

Here's a view from the GI Waterpark of the rear view of the above buildings as they currently look, from the above linked GI Independent story.

[Erik]

thanks for the updates..

Those facilities are very nice.

I know that there are a few heartbroken people over this.. But there are some very good results that are going to come out of this..

1) UNL goes on a freakish ambition to further strengthen it's research prowess.  UNL will become of the nation's leading research universities after this.
2) Grand Island isn't on another planet, it's only about an hour or so from Lincoln, with the move comes heavy investments for the facilities as we already are seing.
3) Lincoln, much like Omaha, can have city-based festivals that become some of the best in the nation.. By placing this in Grand Island, we have a third location with a major festival besides the Big 2.
4) Grand Island has already seen a spark of growth that 'may' have stemmed from this announcement.  The city/county has been growing approximately 300-600 people per year, this last year it broke a 1,000 for the first time..  To put this into perspective, that is a quarter to a third of the growth Lincoln sees every year!
5) For the GI-Hastings-Kearney-Lexington region, this gives them another anchor to further strengthen an already prosperous, growing region that is developing as the only other area in the state besides Omaha/Lincoln as a major market region AND growing above the national rate..

Too many good variables coming from this move to not be pleased..

[the1wags]

Let's agree to disagree

[Brad]

Let's agree to disagree

Like you would go to the Nebraska state fair.  

I don't really care where it is as long as its not costing me too much money.  Grand Island is only an extra hour for a once a year event.

[the1wags]

Yeah I likely would have never gone, but this doesn't change the fact that they are moving it away from the bulk of the state's population. Not surprising to me, this was a state level decision.  :lol: Enjoy the fair.

[Brad]

Besides a Steve Miller concert back in 95 or 96, I am not sure I have ever been.

[Stargazer]

I'm going to make it a point to go out to Grand Island for this year's state fair.

[Zilla]

We always enjoyed the state fair, but it's not worth a trip all the way out to Grand Island for us.  I don't know one person in our office who usually goes who is planning on going out to GI for it now.  Bummer.

[Candleshoe]

We always enjoyed the state fair, but it's not worth a trip all the way out to Grand Island for us.  I don't know one person in our office who usually goes who is planning on going out to GI for it now.  Bummer.

We've got friends and family in Omaha and Lincoln and some say the same thing... some don't. It mainly boils down to if you only went to the state fair for the carnival and concerts, then you've got to justify the extra hour and a quarter of driving time to yourself. If you went for all the rest of what a State Fair is, the extra distance likely won't bother you at all. One of our best friends in LaVista works in one of the exhibition buildings and is pretty excited for the creature comforts the new fair brings. Like air conditioning... and having the layout be nice and orderly. One of his big complaints, and I can understand it, is that the old fairgrounds had no continuity. Most people missed a LOT of what was there, just because they never accidentally stumbled upon it.

[almighty_tuna]

One of his big complaints, and I can understand it, is that the old fairgrounds had no continuity. Most people missed a LOT of what was there, just because they never accidentally stumbled upon it.

I agree!

[Seth]

One of his big complaints, and I can understand it, is that the old fairgrounds had no continuity. Most people missed a LOT of what was there, just because they never accidentally stumbled upon it.

I have to disagree with this.  I was never to the old NE state fair, but I've been to plenty of very old county fairs in Illinois as well as the Illinois and Wisconsin State Fairs (usually as a livestock exhibitor) and I have to say that the dense arrangement of buildings spanning over 150 years really gave their grounds character.  The newer fairgrounds I've been to with neat rows of look-alike buildings, straight, wide streets, and bland open space never really felt as interesting.

Of course, the small-scale family-based agriculture that fairs were based on has nearly vanished too, so maybe I'm just trying to live in the past.

[Candleshoe]

I have to say that the dense arrangement of buildings spanning over 150 years really gave their grounds character.

Oh I won't argue for a second that the old fairgrounds had character. LOADS of it! I can remember going through some of those old buildings in the mid 60's and they were old and dripping with character back then, too. I moved back to Nebraska in the early 80's and the first time we went to the state fair, I had no idea the vendors were in the lower level of the Bob and missed that completely. We missed the Sheriffs Association building after being invited to stop in by a friend at the local Sheriffs Dept. We accidently found it the next year.

the animal barns were interesting too. A couple here. Another one or two on the other side of the fairgrounds... and one over that way...

The worst part was the parking though. Drive forever on a narrow one way driveway, wait for somebody who's stock trailer is sticking out, then cruise slowly behind an old guy in a golf cart to get to the northeast parking lot the first time and ended up parking in mud, which it pretty much all was, that year. Then, we couldn't find the lot again and wandered forever till we recognized something.

No, the new fairgrounds won't be charming or loaded with character. They're built for efficiency, for multi use, designed to be technology friendly and user friendly. That's a given. The alternative was to maintain the status quo, which is, some will say, what made it palatable to the decision makers to close it.

[Zilla]

We've got friends and family in Omaha and Lincoln and some say the same thing... some don't. It mainly boils down to if you only went to the state fair for the carnival and concerts, then you've got to justify the extra hour and a quarter of driving time to yourself. If you went for all the rest of what a State Fair is, the extra distance likely won't bother you at all. One of our best friends in LaVista works in one of the exhibition buildings and is pretty excited for the creature comforts the new fair brings. Like air conditioning... and having the layout be nice and orderly. One of his big complaints, and I can understand it, is that the old fairgrounds had no continuity. Most people missed a LOT of what was there, just because they never accidentally stumbled upon it.

I was never big on the whole thing, it was an nice way to spend a day, but I never worried about if I made it there or not.  The wife was big into it and really liked going along with her family.  But she's not interested in driving the extra distance, which surprised me actually.  Her family won't be going either, but both her Dad and Grandma have problems walking or staying on their feet for long periods of time, so who knows if they would go if it was local still anyways.  I don't know how I fit in the percentage of people that will go or won't, nor do I have anything against GI, just throwing out another opinion.  *shrug*

[Brad]

What I never get is, in Iowa, the state fair is HUGE.  Its is an event for most of the state.  Its in the middle of the state and everyone comes.

What is different between the Iowa State Fair and the Nebraska State Fair?  Iowa gets huge crowds and no one complains about driving 2.5 hours?

[nebugeater]

What I never get is, in Iowa, the state fair is HUGE.  Its is an event for most of the state.  Its in the middle of the state and everyone comes.

What is different between the Iowa State Fair and the Nebraska State Fair?  Iowa gets huge crowds and no one complains about driving 2.5 hours?

Iowa is / was on a never ending more to improve and grow their fair.  

Nebraska fair was a lot more that it has been the last few years.  It had been tied to horse racing funding at the state fair park and as that funding dried up the grounds and the whole fair went the downhill direction.  that IMO is a major part of the demise of the NSF.  by no means it is the hole story but it as a lot to do with it.


In the 80's I basically lived at the NSF for a three year stretch as I managed a food stand their while in college.  I also went to the ISF at least once in that stretch.  They were not that far apart then.  Today they do not even belong being talked about in the same story.

[the1wags]

What I never get is, in Iowa, the state fair is HUGE.  Its is an event for most of the state.  Its in the middle of the state and everyone comes.

What is different between the Iowa State Fair and the Nebraska State Fair?  Iowa gets huge crowds and no one complains about driving 2.5 hours?

While it's in the middle of the state, it's also in Iowa's largest city. If Omaha was where Kearney is, things for the NE fair would be a lot different.

[guy4omaha]

I'm going to make it a point to go out to Grand Island for this year's state fair.

Me too!  shall we make it forum gathering?

[Coyote]

Fair is built, but will they come

More critters, more rides, more space. That's what the Nebraska State Fair will offer when it debuts in Grand Island this August. State Fair officials said the new $42 million fairgrounds are less cluttered than the Lincoln site, increasing opportunities for exhibitors as the fair takes a more educational and agricultural approach.

But more people? Maybe not. A 2006 Nebraska State Fair survey indicated 78 percent of attendees traveled from less than 60 miles away from the capital — an area that covers 65 percent of the state's population.

[DTO Luv]

It may have been a good move for facilities but I don't see the fair making it long out there or at least it won't be as eventful. I think people from the metros will be less likely to drive that far for concerts that won't be as name as ones that stop here and  rides that can be found year round in KC or Des Moines.

[Stargazer]

I'm sure the fair will make it... but indeed, it won't be as 'eventful'.

I would expect to see attendance drop by nearly half.

I have to say, I was absolutely awestruck when I saw the Minnesota State Fair for the first time... it puts -Iowa's- to shame (in FACT, it has a larger DAILY attendance average than the Texas state fair (which runs longer, giving it the largest overall attendance)).  They average nearly an entire Omaha metro more than the Iowa State Fair in attendance.  An absolute MASS of humanity.  The shuttle bus operation is astonishing... I counted 50+ articulated buses coming/going at any given time from throughout the metro.  I highly recommend going to see what a REAL state fair is all about (but go early, or you'll be trapped in wall to wall people).

[Candleshoe]

It may have been a good move for facilities but I don't see the fair making it long out there or at least it won't be as eventful. I think people from the metros will be less likely to drive that far for concerts that won't be as name as ones that stop here and  rides that can be found year round in KC or Des Moines.

Well, the State Fair is hardly all about competing with a dozen big time concerts at Qwest, or "Worlds of Fun". Any State Fair is an event unto itself. Where else can you find this particular caliber of rides, midways, concerts, and ag and vendors and junk food and kids entertainment and on and on in one place for ten days? (By the way, the latest confirmed act is Lifehouse, which will be a free concert). Another argument is that the vendors will boycott it. Last I heard, the vendor space, which is half again larger than the old state fairgrounds offered, is sold out.

I don't doubt the attendance will be lower than last year at Lincoln, which was a way above average attendance year, based on the "event" of it being the last there. I expect it'll be a no win situation on attendance anyway, as I've read a few comments in the Journal Star forums that GI should exceed the last years figures just on the novelty and the checking out of the new facilities and anything less is a massive fail. Oh well... it is what it is and will be.

[NovakOmaha]

I've read comments here and on the Lincoln Journal Star web site and it strikes me as funny that folks in Omaha and Lincoln just can't stomach a drive "all the way out" to Grand Island.  I wonder how many of those drive to Kansas City to Worlds of Fun?  An extra hour and a half or so.  Life so full that the possibility of not having a life changing experience is too big a risk?  I'm also curious how many more folks from "Greater" Nebraska will make the shorter trip.

I wish Grand Island the best of luck.  It left Lincoln because of declining attendance.  Perhaps if the fair is a big success Grand Island will build on it and that part of the state will grow and prosper.  It also appears that in some part the citizens of Lincoln learned from that experience and voted for the arena.  I hope that Nebraska as a whole grows and gets even better.  

If I can swing a trip back I'll certainly check out the fair, even with the extra 648,000 seconds.

[Brad]

Fair will have a really big screen

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100818/N ... big-screen

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — The largest indoor video screen in the Midwest got its unofficial preview Wednesday at the new home of the Nebraska State Fair at Fonner Park in Grand Island

Located in the livestock arena, the 34 by 12 foot, high-definition color video screen will give fairgoers a closeup view of action in the livestock arena and around the fairgrounds. Accompanying the video screen is what State Fair officials describe as “a rock concert type arena sound system.”

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., who toured the fairgrounds with State Fair officials Wednesday, was impressed by the big screen and the overall construction of the new State Fair facilities.

[Brad]

'New' State Fair opens today

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100827/N ... pens-today

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- The Nebraska State Fair officially broke ground in its move from Lincoln to Grand Island 414 days ago.

In that time, which saw record snow and rain, construction crews have accomplished something pretty spectacular -- more than 500,000 square feet of new buildings and infrastructure at Fonner Park.

Now the time has arrived. Today is the first day of the Nebraska State Fair at its new home.

[omaproud]

I heard today that they are not releasing attendance figures until after the fair ends.  They want people to concentrate on the fair itself, not the number in attendance.  Doesn't sound good to me, unfortunately

[nebugeater]

I heard today that they are not releasing attendance figures until after the fair ends.  They want people to concentrate on the fair itself, not the number in attendance.  Doesn't sound good to me, unfortunately

They did not release daily figures for the last 2 - 3 years in Lincoln either although they did release a couple of updates as the fair went on.  No big deal IMO.  releasing the numbers during the run will not change peoples minds if they are going either way.  

I have talked to a few people that were out to the fair over the weekend but I will withhold my judgment and comment until I can see it myself.  I am planning on taking the drive this weekend.

[Brad]

According to a OWH story the other day, attendance was even better than they expected.

[nebugeater]

According to a OWH story the other day, attendance was even better than they expected.

I missed anything on attendance in the OWH.  What I did see though is that livestock and static exhibits as fair entries were up from what was expected and from recent years.  


( As for attendance being better than expected that is all variable and very dependent on what the expectation was  :mrgreen:   )

[Candleshoe]

We spent just short of 8 hours there yesterday, including two at the Heart concert (awesome show!) Darn my luck. I turned down a friends offer to use his Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 lens, cuz there was no way it would have gotten into the arena. Silly me. DSLR's were allowed, just no flash. And I took the camera back to the car anyway.

Parking wasn't too much of a problem, as the attendants pointed you to open spots as they found them. Saw a decent number of Lincoln/Omaha cars in the lots, so apparently SOMEBODY actually made the trip. ':banger:'

So, just a few pics to give a sampling of sights...







"oh yeah... that's the spot!"

[nebugeater]

Thanks for posting the photos Candleshoe

[Brad]

looks great.  Thanks for the pics!

[Coyote]

Nice pics

[Brad]

Fair attendance ‘phenomenal'

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100831/N ... phenomenal

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — While the final count isn't in, Sallie Atkins, Nebraska State Fair board chairwoman, said, “We think we are looking at a record crowd for the opening.”

“We will have to wait and see when all the numbers come in, but it was a phenomenal crowd,” she said. “The traffic flow went pretty well for it being the first time here and learning everything as we went along.”

The size of the crowds Friday, Saturday and Sunday were larger than State Fair officials may have anticipated.

Another indicator of how well the State Fair did over the weekend was its drawing power around the state and the Midwest. Atkins said a license plate count found 30 states, along with Canada, represented at the Nebraska State Fair and all but 10 of Nebraska's 93 counties.

“That tells me that all of Nebraska is excited and so engaged in this new fair that they feel a sense of pride and ownership in it,” Atkins said.

On Monday morning, State Fair officials met with vendors, and she said the meeting was very positive.

[Candleshoe]

Officials: 120,000 have already attended fair

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 566695.txt

Fair officials announced in a press conference this morning that more than 120,000 people have already attended the State Fair and attendance is on track to reach 300,000.

By this time in 2008, about 119,000 people had attended the fair in its former location in Lincoln, officials said.

[Brad]

State Fair crowd tops 300,000

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100907/N ... ps-300-000

Breaking News:

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Nebraska State Fair officials say 309,400 people attended the 2010 event — the first held in Grand Island. That tops the 2008 attendance by about 250 people.

This year's crowds did not set a record. Last year's final fair in Lincoln totaled 367,203, That farewell crowd, a nearly 19 percent increase over 2008, was the largest attendance in about a decade.

[Stargazer]

Good news for the fair... although perhaps the first year at a new venue isn't really any more an apples/apples comparison than comparing the last year at the previous venue (ie consider all those showing up just to check out the new digs)... hopefully they'll be able to add to that number next year.

[Candleshoe]

About the only yardstick (did you get a free yardstick at the fair?) one can really use to measure if this attendance is good or not, might be the projections that the fair board used. Assuming the non urban population base would result in diminished carnival returnees, combined with the incomplete fairgrounds (more to come in the next edition), along with the well publicized intentions to return to it's Ag roots, the fair board set a target projection goal of 200,000. The new edition of the State Fair is designed to turn a profit at approximately 175,000 to 200,000 attendance.

Doom and gloom comments from LJS forum folks predicted less than that and now seem to have changed their theory that anything less than a record attendance is a dismal failure.


Attendance figures aside, entries were way up in most categories for 4-H, FFA and open classes. Judges were pleased with the air conditioning, which made their jobs tons more enjoyable.

Anyway, food vendors, the shuttle operators, retail exhibitors and local public safety were prepared for the predicted crowds and had to change their game plans once the larger crowds began materializing. Traffic routes were altered, food vendors made supply runs, exhibitors overnighted more inventory and the shuttle operators increased the numbers of buses in the system.

309,000 is neither great nor bad... it is what it is... You could say that it beat the 2008 numbers without the benefit of a local metro and another less than an hour away, and thereby had the huge numbers that come with the newness. Of course, next year will be new as well.

Lastly, the first big booking of the facilities has come in. (Remember that national events take time to accumulate, remember the Qwest?) The fairgrounds will host the national alpaca show in 2012. This years host city is Oklahoma City, so GI is competing  with the big boys at least in Ag related show hosting for the future.

[iamjacobm]

I didn't have the time to go would of liked to, but it wasn't in the cards this year, but I was just wondering was it pretty similar to the fair in Lincoln with just updated facilities or were there new attractions the Nebraska State Fair hasn't seen before?