The 37,240 residents of Puyallup, Washington are joined by a few visitors every year in September. This year the 17 day fair drew 1,117,323.

But since it is a private group that puts it on and they have been in parternship with FUNTASTIC for lots of years, what rides and how many rides is decided by them that run it and FUNTASTIC.

http://www.thefair.com/puyallup-fair/ 

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Population is certainly no indication of attendance. In my neck of the woods:

Barnum, MN
Pop. 588
Fair attendance: 37,000

Falcon Heights, MN
Pop. 5,314
Fair attendance: 1,788,512 (MN State Fair)

Thanks guys for all the information!

Jackpotter is right. Fair attendance does not equate with local population. I know a little about the situation down there and the income for the carnival is just not there to justify more pieces. the committee needs to expand their part to attract more patrons who are not interested in riding but to get them on the grounds and maybe they will spend some money with the carnival. Fairs cannot just use the carnival to attract people. I know of 2 small fairs in NC that are again searching for a carnival because they are not doing their part in getting people on the grounds. they are 15-16 ride spots but they too want more pieces. Fairs cannot continue to blame the carnival for not attracting people.

Ive never understood if you have an 85,000 population and the fair sponser has a couple of thousand per night at a county fair why not book a bigger and better show or at least a show with a freakout or something simple like a Alpine bobs or kamikazi. If you have a great turn out with a yo-yo as the top draw what would you have with a a show with a freakout or maybe even just a ring of fire. Sloppy management is what it looks like.

Because population is not an indicator of attendance. I can name you several fairs where the population of the town is 3,000 or less but they'll have 25,000 to 40,000 attend their fair in a week. Likewise I can name you several fairs where the population of the town is 40,000 and they'll have 13,000 attend the fair for the week.

It's a whole lot deeper than just "sloppy management". There are only so many shows to go around, and furthermore, only so many shows with a Freak Out or Ring of Fire. Small fair committees that draw only a couple of thousand people per night pretty much have to take what's available. Sometimes there are ways to work around that, if the fair board is willing to move the dates of their events to accomodate a better carnival that has an open or still date AND often if the committee is willing to take less of a percentage on the contract.

contracts are as different as the shows themselves, they can say what ever both parties want, and all usually start off with different wording which is later changed before signed.

at the end of the day, BOTH the carnival and the sponsor have to agree to everything, or it does not get signed...

At least where I live the Fairs don't really have any say in "What specific rides are brought". Most contracts specify a certain number of rides. Some contracts specify front footage of games and food as well. But I can't think of a single county fair in Kentucky that gets to say "I want this ride and this ride and this ride". It's pretty much up to the show what to bring as long as they bring a specified number of rides agreed upon.

Ive never understood if you have an 85,000 population and the fair sponser has a couple of thousand per night at a county fair why not book a bigger and better show or at least a show with a freakout or something simple like a Alpine bobs or kamikazi. If you have a great turn out with a yo-yo as the top draw what would you have with a a show with a freakout or maybe even just a ring of fire. Sloppy management is what it looks like.

there are a wide range of contracts. some specify a # of rides, others have a list for the carnival to choose from, other specify a type of ride and some will take whatever they can get. it all relates to the size and earning capability of the spot. I have seen some that had a # of pieces but had to include a MGR and wheel. you cannot expect to see super spectacular pieces at a spot that does not gross enought to pay the expenses. small fairs are really suffering as they expect the carnival to give them the same %/money and rides as much larger spots.

Yeah exactly right britt,
like my county fair required 40 rides in 2006 when they signed PGAM , in 2007 the fair-board helped PGAM to increase gross-revenue by expanding the midway so there is enough room for about 45 rides, they only required that a majority of the rides were open by preview day, the exception always was that Mind Blaster, in 3 years at the fair, it never operated, yet still was included in the 45 ride count.
but thats a major fair, considered locally as one of the largest county fairs east of the Mississippi.
for instance take Jolly Shows or Rosedale Attractions, they own about 30 rides each, and play small county fairs, school, church, and VFD carnivals in the MD/DC/VA/Southern PA
with small shows like these, these small fairs and festivals in this region get every ride that Jolly or Rosedale owns
this includes Spectacular rides like Typhoon, Fabbri Giant Wheel, Super-Shot, Watkins Expo wheel
so in this case these fairs and festivals get all rides from kiddies to super spectaculars
heck i saw 2 big wheels on the same midway at a VFD carnival with Rosedale providing the midway
so you can say it depends on the contract, show, and fair/festival/carnival

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When a show contracts a city or town. How much of and input does the sponser have in selecting which rides come? Ive noticed when SMA plays our county fair most of the time its the smaller unit that comes with maybe one really large ride. This year biggest ride or newest was the yo-yo.

there are a wide range of contracts. some specify a # of rides, others have a list for the carnival to choose from, other specify a type of ride and some will take whatever they can get. it all relates to the size and earning capability of the spot. I have seen some that had a # of pieces but had to include a MGR and wheel. you cannot expect to see super spectacular pieces at a spot that does not gross enought to pay the expenses. small fairs are really suffering as they expect the carnival to give them the same %/money and rides as much larger spots.