Carnival & Fair News

Scott Stoller had the rare position of managing two fairs in one summer. Stoller, who had been Fair Manager of the Silver Dollar Fair in Chico, CA since 2009, was named the new general manager of the Colorado State Fair, effective July 1. This meant that in May, Stoller went from managing a fair with about 66,000 to one of the premier Southwestern fairs in the country, with a 2018 attendance of 444,476.

The 2018 Colorado State Fair seems a story of counter-intuitive highs and lows that in addition to a more robust social media marketing campaign and a lesson learned about booking headline entertainment for fairs – bigger is usually better.

Spending Up

The fair had an attendance dip of about 7 percent, among the many factors were weather forecasts predicting rain that actually never came, but still persuaded would-be fairgoers to stay home. “The weather apps said rain was in the forecast and that kept people away on a Saturday night, but we had what was probably our biggest second Sunday of the Fair.”

He noted one crucial discounted promotion -- $10 gate admission that include unlimited rides – was, “up about 4,000, which was probably a record,” for a total attendance of about 30,000 he said.

In contrast to the attendance dip, spending went in the opposite direction, indicating a rebounding Colorado economy. “Our per-caps were way up,” he said. 

According to Stoller, the carnival was up  11 percent, food sales up 8 percent, and rodeo up 13 percent. Even though less people came, those who came spent more – although a $ 5 increase in the cost of unlimited ride wristbands also boosted revenue

Concerts Down

One area of the fair that did not register an increase was the concert lineup –concert revenue was down 45 percent. In a revealing number crunch, Stoller said that while overall attendance was down 7 percent, if you subtract the concert admissions to the fair (fair admission is free with concert ticket purchase) general admission actually shows a 6 percent increase. 

National headliners are still important to the fair, but talent buying has become more challenging. “Overall attendance was down, so we are looking at booking,” he said. “The big thing was the concerts pay for themselves, and they still bring people into the fair, after the show they get something to eat, ride on the rides. On the other hand, it is hard to find the right acts.”  

The Colorado State Fair has big name acts following their nightly rodeo, including Neal McCoy, Oak Ridge Boys and the Flying W Wranglers. While the rodeo was up 13 percent, the only sellout of any type of concert was the La Original Banda El Limon, which followed Celebración de Los Charros. Of the other stand-alone grandstand shows, Stoller said that Joan Jett was the best seller, adding that “she was a profitable show for what we paid for her.” 

The lineup was rounded out with such stars as Larry The Cable Guy, Old Dominion, and  Lorenzo Antonio with La Sombra De Tony Guerrero. While certainly significant headliners and proven, reliable draws for the fairgoer audience, with mounting costs and increased competition, the Colorado State Fair will focus on a less is more approach for 2019. 

 “Historically, we offer a mix of free shows, grounds entertainment and nationally known entertainment,” said Stoller. “But looking at some of the historical documents and data, it seems like to really pick a winner is about 50/50. You have to pay a little more to hit the big numbers. If I knew that secret I would be working in Manhattan for a Hedge Fund company. ”

New Strategy

One reason for the plummet and rethinking of previous booking philosophies has to do with last year, an obvious healthy turnout for a show capped by a sold-out show by ZZ Top. 

Finding a comparable draw in 2018 proved elusive, especially since country music has become particularly impacted by competing venues with deeper pockets and increasingly restrictive radius clauses.  “To get a good name in country is  harder than ever. Casinos have been very tough competition, but so have the outdoor country music festivals, there have been about four or five that have popped up. Also Bronco Stadium has big concerts. There's been so many country music acts playing here and their touring contracts block out the whole state for a year, six months. It's very hard.”

Bigger is definitely better will define the 2019 talent buying policy for the fair. The concept is that fewer but bigger names, then filling out the grandstands with other entertainment, such as tribute bands, seems the new attitude. “We are definitely focusing on 2-3 bigger names,” he said. “If we have only a few big name concerts, that will bring in people and pay for themselves and we can use other entertainment as draws for other nights.”  

Crabtree Amusements is the carnival company for the Colorado State Fair, whose midway featured 65 rides. Stoller said the most popular ride was the Power Glide and that it was the first time Magic Money was used at the fair.  In addition, “we increased our wristband price by $5, but our revenue was up so I don't think that had a negative impact.”  

New Marketing

The fair's marketing tagline for 2018 highlighted the festive and fun atmosphere of the annual celebration of everything Colorado -- Summer's Biggest Party.  One new addition to the fair marketing – and one the new general manager took credit for – was improving the marketing content. “We acquired a 360 camera and we did a lot of shooting, wide views of the fair.” 

The camera filmed from rides, filmed the rodeo, baby animals, even propped on a stage coach. “It was pretty amazing what we were able to do with it.” In addition, the fair had a “Moments of Zen” video for the second year, featuring clips such as Butterfly Fly Encounter.  

The fair's advertising budget was $350,000, although when trade agreements are taken into account, the number is closer to $1 million, said Stoller. “We do a lot of television and radio,” he said. “Print is a pretty tough one that has been pretty stripped down. We did no billboards this year, and more social media, which grew by 40 percent.”

One marketing program with Groupon – which may indicate that this marketing vehicle may no longer be as effective – will certainly be reconsidered  “We partnered  with Groupon, but that was really cannibalizing our market, and we were giving away money on the discounts, and it didn't really draw in people.”  

Social Media – with its budgetary increase and content upgrade – played a bigger role. The  fair outsourced its social media to Noise New Media. “The benefit was they have to ability is to reach a vast audience, not get tied up with all the backend stuff. They were able to get access to accounts like Larry the Cable Guy and partner with his social media. We did a lot more with Instagram this year, and some Snapchat but Snapchat is sort of dying.” 

The increase in revenue from the 4-days of PRCA Rodeo also strengthened the fair's commitment to this traditional Colorado State Fair activity. “Rodeo has a big and long history with the fair and the agrarian lifestyle. It is doing pretty really well.”

What the fair has succeeded with its rodeo programming is to sculpt its appeal to both the aficionado and the neophyte. This balance is not just a clever marketing ploy, but seems to reflect  the rodeo audience, especially when it comes to the Colorado State Fair event. “The rodeo is a catchall when it comes to audience,” said Stoller. “We get the diehard fan and those people who go to one rodeo a year. We get people and families who've been going to this rodeo, 30, 40, 50 years. We do well with the rodeo because we know the makeup of the audience. You don't want it too rodeo-centric so newcomers won't understand, but you don't want it too generic either.”

Attracting new audiences to the fair by connecting them to traditional fair activities like the PRCA rodeo will be a top priority now that Stoller has his first fair under his belt. “I have a big agricultural background, and I am very interested in developing the agrarian roots of the fair. I want to connect the urban and the rural, because they do support each other. The fair is a great opportunity for that conversation. . I'm also impressed with the projects submitted by our 4-H and FFA youth. Their hard work and dedication to the agricultural industry is evident.”