As temperatures rise, Los Angeles County Fair attendance drops
In the end, the unrelenting heat beat out the deep-fried cereal.
The Los Angeles County Fair, which began Aug. 31 and ended last weekend, drew 1,473,371 visitors, a 1% decrease from the record-setting total of 1,491,213 last year, fair officials said.
The fair hoped to draw bigger crowds this year with the slogan “Tell your diet to stick it” and introduced new, high-calorie treats like deep fried Spam, pineapple and cereal.
Besides the snack foods, the fair featured such crowd favorites as rock legends Styx, monster truck madness and demolition derby.
But in the end, the fatty foods could not entice enough people to put up with the recent high temperatures to break last year’s record attendance numbers.
During September, the temperatures in Pomona -- home of the Pomona Fairplex -- ranged from the mid-50s at night to the 100s during the day. On Sept. 14, the high temperature at the fairgrounds reached a hellish 107 degrees, according to weather.com.
On a positive note, the fair drew 600 vendors to sell products in 1,200 retail spaces, an increase of 10 vendors compared with last year, according to fair officials.
Also:
L.A. County Fair so bad for you it’s good
Food fare of the L.A. County Fair
L.A. had hotter-than-normal August and September
Follow Hugo Martin on Twitter at @hugomartin
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