Debate for an extra week

Running a county fair is not just fun and games. The food vendors, traveling salesmen, exhibitors and carnival ride providers who make the fair happen have a lot to win or lose with every seemingly small change made to the fair’s operation.

That’s why plenty of people with an interest in the Orange County Fair turned out to express their strong opinions Monday evening about whether the fair should add an extra week at the fairgrounds. The fair’s board of directors will vote on the issue Sept. 25 at the OC Fair board meeting.

The proposals on the table would change the fair from a four-week affair to a five-week one, but would make Tuesdays a mandatory day off, which would have the net effect of adding two to four days to the schedule.

Since 2002, the fair has been 21 days, after it extended from 17 days six years ago. Fair organizers say large crowds then — about 53,000 daily customers — were making it uncomfortable for fair patrons and driving them away.

“We don’t want to get to a point where people start saying, ‘It’s too crowded, I don’t want to go to the fair,” said board President Julie Vandermost.

Statistics show that the last time the fair extended its days, average daily attendance took a big dip. This doesn’t necessarily mean presenters are losing a lot of money though, because people tend to stay longer and spend more money if lines are shorter, said Doug Lofstrom, the fair’s vice president of events and facilities.

Some vendors were adamantly opposed to extending the fair, saying it would cut down on their profits. Each extra day the fair is open in Orange County, booth operators have to pay their staff.

“We make the same amount of money in 21 days as we did in 17, but we stretch it out, and we have added expenses,” said Steve Sanders, who sells a polishing product at the fair.

Many traveling salesmen echoed the same concern, saying that with more days added to the fair, people aren’t as urgent to come and buy their products.

Also, many of the smaller vendors go to a bunch of fairs in any given season to try to capitalize on more customers, said salesman Jeff Thornberry.

“The fear is that we’ll go from having a big bang to a long, protracted fizzle,” Thornberry said.

Large vendors and businesses that spend a lot of money on set up and transportation might favor extending the fair.

Many of the anti-extension activists thought the carnival owner was responsible for the extension plans because he didn’t want to have to carry all of his rides up to Sacramento at the conclusion of the OC Fair.

Fair officials called this suggestion preposterous.

Tony Boghosian, who helps run one of the most popular food vendors, Chicken Charlie’s fried food stand, is fully in favor of the extension.

“Southern California is growing. As long as this fair is growing, it can handle an extra weekend,” he said.

Last time the number of days in the fair grew, the average daily population shot back up soon afterward. Fair coordinators are expecting the same type of jump within a few years this time around, which begs the question: What happens when the fair again reaches its capacity?

The fair can keep expanding the number of days until it’s no longer feasible, and then they can maybe try to extend the number of hours in a day, Vandermost said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.