Carnival & Fair News

For the first time since early childhood, Charles Panacek of Belle City Amusements wasn't working a Florida midway this spring, but he's not retiring nor is Belle City folding up its tent. Instead, the company is transitioning to a shorter route, starting a new business as an equipment repair, reconditioning and manufacturer house.

This transition began last fall with the formal announcement that Deggeller Attractions acquired the Belle City Amusements' lucrative Florida route, which includes such classic sunshine state events as the Jacksonville Fair, Florida Strawberry Fest, Sarasota County Fair and The Charlotte County Fair. The Florida dates essentially book ended the Belle City season, but now the carnival will only play its summer dates – a route entirely outside of and to the north – of Florida.

In April, Charles Panacek announced the second phase of the transition with a new business: Amusement Ride & Repair Professionals Manufacturing. Panacek, who is 62, and a scion of carnival royalty, said the time was right for him to cut down on time away from home and family. “I am all for being a consultant on the Florida route,” he said of his new role this year.  “We're still doing some events, but not nearly as many. We'll be doing many of the county fairs, similar events to what we have done in the past, but not in Florida, but yes in the Southeast.”

Stationary Shop

But unlike other fair seasons, he'll be “stationary in our new shop facility that will be servicing the industry in the repair and refurbishment of equipment.”

Still headquartered in Long Wood, Florida, the company's expanding its garage and workspace from 3,500-square-feet to upwards of 10,000 square feet.  Panacek will be offering to industry a foundational aspect of the Belle City Amusements, maintaining and reconditioning equipment. “We are going to do what we've been doing for our rides, food trailers, games and equipment for other carnivals.”

In time, he foresees expanding into some manufacturing, “We'll also do some lite manufacturing, probably making trailers. We'll be doing electric work, new hydraulics and LED systems. Basically, there's nothing we cannot do, although I don't foresee making a Big Wheel just yet.”

He added, “What we are emphasizing is quality work, because at the end of the day, that is what our customers want.”

Panacek added that while the main impetus was personal – scaling back as he approaches semi-retirement – the opportunity emerged due to current industry trends. A tight labor market, even with the supplemental foreign labor via the H2B program, has stretched all carnival companies thin, meaning their in-season repair and refurbishment operations are running at minimal levels. Coupled with the shipping disruptions and backorder problems delaying new equipment deliveries – increasing demand for reconditioned equipment as interim solutions – the factors aligned for Belle City to transition to this new venture.

“This was conceived as a service we can provide. More companies have been outsourcing their reconditioning because they can't get the staff or complete what they need to be done in-house. It's far cheaper to refurbish equipment than to buy new.”

All Year Round

One key feature also appealing to the current state of the industry is that instead of being limited to the off-season, the new venture never closes.  “We are going to be year-round because we don't have the limitations of also servicing a full-season route. We are becoming a type of industry where we are rotating equipment and rides throughout the year and carnival companies are running longer seasons. That is really ideal for us. The market is right for this kind of service, it's a real industry need.”

Panacek admits that the mechanical side of the business interested him the most. “There's not many people who refurbish equipment. We've always done our own work. We have a great staff, a lot of expertise with the newest computer drives, hydraulics, all the latest technologies. We've specialized in the new equipment and the new electrical systems.”

Attrition and consolidation, typical of most industries, have been the post-lockdown realities of the carnival industries.  Belle City seems to fit into that trend, except it's much larger than other companies who folded for COVID-related reasons. In 2024, Belle City was ranked 12th among other carnivals, according to the Carnivals Playing the Top 50 Fairs, for the Florida Strawberry Festival. Key for Panacek was finding a suitable carnival company to take over the Florida route, and Deggeller (#14 on the same 2024 list as compiled by Carnival Warehouse) was the answer.

“The timing was right on my behalf and on Deggeller's,” said Panacek. “Deggeller can very well handle these dates and our fairs are in good hands. We were on top of the game as are our Florida fairs. Financially, we sold out our route to Deggeller for good reasons, but financial reasons were not the only reasons. I don't think we're part of a trend, but the industry is changing.”

The Deggeller acquisition includes the Jacksonville Fair, Florida Strawberry Festival, Sarasota County Fair, The Charlotte County Fair (Port Charlotte), and a church event in Nativity, FL.  Palmetto, a previous Belle City event, went out to bid prior to Deggeller's arrangement with Belle City, and the fair ultimately signed with Strates Shows for the 2025 fair.

In addition to the route, the deal also had Deggeller to purchase some Belle City pieces, including the Bertazzon Rock N Roll Himalaya, Wacky Worm, Mini Himalaya, Circus Fun House, Trailer Mounted Hampton, Dizzy Dragon, and Berry Go Round.  The show also purchased their office, office canopy, and some amenities. 

Rock-O-Plane Roots

Belle City Amusement was founded in 1948 by Charles Panacek Sr., who joined a traveling show with a pony exhibit and an eight-ride carnival which traveled throughout his home state of Wisconsin. The Panacek paterfamilias joined the army soon after Pearl Harbor in 1941, serving nearly four years in World War II.  According to the company history, “Charles met the love of his life, the beautiful southern belle. Mary Moody, at a fair in Tennessee.”

Is that where the name Belle City originates? Panacek said his father coined it because he was from Racine, Wisconsin which was known as Belle City because “the most beautiful women in Wisconsin were said to be from Racine.”

The official story is that Racine earned the nickname “Belle City” due to the beautiful scenery and architecture along its Lake Michigan shore, as well as a perceived sense of charm and sophistication. Nonetheless the name stuck even as the company extended its route to Florida, buying a home and Winter Quarters in Central Florida, now the basis of the new repair, reconditioning, refurbishment and manufacturing facility. In the early 2000s, Belle City acquired one of the largest carnivals at the time, The Mighty Blue Grass Shows . Belle City Amusement is a five time OABA Circle of Excellence Award winner and at its peak worked 22 events in 8 states
every year.

A tribute to Charles Panacek Sr. on the show's Carousel

“When you are young, it's a great, great thing being on the road,” said Panacek. “It's wonderful growing up on the midway, but as you get older, after all the  work you're doing and realizing there's bills to pay, obligations and deadlines, it does get harder. There were real business factors, but I always enjoyed the business.”

One of the biggest factors – and the most significant change in the industry – has been the labor issue and the gradual reliance companies have on foreign labor and the often unpredictable H2B system. “To be honest, back in the 80s and 90s, we never had foreign labor. It was an all American help. That has become harder and harder to sustain. We've tried to keep our foreign labor under 20, 25 percent of our workers, but as the years went one, we needed more and more out of necessity.”

In fact, the workforce proportions have entirely reversed with upwards of 80 percent of the workers being foreign. “They've been good workers,” said Panacek, who will still participate in the H2B program, just at a lower scale.

As with most new life chapters, Panacek admits to some mixed emotions as Belle City transitions into a new business. How semi this semi-retirement will stay depends entirely on how well Amusement Ride & Repair Professionals Manufacturing takes off. “We didn't make the decision lightly and it's been about a 12 month process. After COVID, things changed. There are more regulations than ever and the cost of doing business has had dramatic increases.”

Panacek grew up on the midway, and it has been and remains his life-long career. 

What is his earliest midway memory? “I'm not sure, but I do remember when I was about 11 years old and my father let me work on rides. I worked a Rock-O-Plane ride, me and a gentlemen set it up and tore it down. That was my first full time position.”