Carnival & Fair News

The New York State Association of Agricultural Fairs (NYSAAF) – founded in 1888 – began the year with an annual convention that was better attended, more youthful, and committed to the mission of fairs and making sure legislators in the state capitol of Albany support the mission.

The convention was held in Syracuse and a total of 466 attended, up from 425, with all 53 member fairs represented, according to Mark St Jacques, Executive Secretary. “It's centrally located so we had more people coming for the day, then coming back the next day, because they didn't have to pay for the hotel. We got a lot of the smaller fairs involved who don't always come.”

Youth Movement

The attendees themselves also showed a welcomed generational shift. In conventions past, “you looked out and saw a lot of gray-haired folks, who of course play an important part. But this year, we saw more young people. We're seeing a younger generation getting more involved at the management level. Some people have been at the same fair 30 to 50 years but they're moving. The young people are helping bring their fairs into the next level of technology and reaching community members who haven't been coming to the fair.”

In addition, to bridging the generation gap, the NYSAAF has also been bridging the gender gap.
“We're seeing a trend of more women taking on leadership roles at fairs. It's the first year our slate of new officers are (almost) all women.”

Those top officers include: President: Lauren Delaney. Saratoga County Fair; 2nd Vice President. Lisa Jackson. Otsego County Fair; 3rd Vice President. Rachel List. Lewis County Fair – Jason Craig, of the Delaware County Fair, was inducted as the second 3rd Vice president.

The general attitude among conventioneers was even more upbeat than  last year. With even the residual impact of the pandemic quickly shrinking in the rearview mirror, fairs no longer need to qualify their optimistic outlook with caution. “People were very positive. Overall fairs are doing well, especially the ones who had bright, sunny days. Each of our fairs have comeback very well from the bad days of COVID. People are coming out and they are spending.”

Inflation

An area of concern though is inflation, which is starting to impact profitability. St. Jacques pointed out the current problem – where prices are higher, particularly in food – and in 2024 fairgoers paid the increases. But after the books are totaled, “prices have gone up on paper so it might look you sold more, but actually the profit part has gone down. The actual profits are lower for a lot of our food vendors.”

Carnival Shortage  

Even more a worry than higher food costs impacting concessionaires is the dearth of carnival companies. The lockdown and the resurgence years that followed saw an attrition of midway providers, especially smaller carnivals who are the bread-and-butter of county and local fairs, the bulk of NYSAAF members. In New York as well as many states – it's an issue the IAFE has declared a nationwide problem, according to St. Jacques – demand for carnival company has far outstripped supply. “It's one of our biggest challenges. It was a becoming a problem pre-COVID, but it's worse than ever and carnival companies were closing at an alarming rate. Some companies were able to split into two units, but many are no longer able to and there aren't enough carnival companies to contract with. Many fairs have to adjust their dates just to accommodate the carnival. Others are finding ways to run a fair without a midway. There are ways you can do it but it's hard and a financial risk.”

Seminars

The best attended seminars were on Sponsorship, Marketing, Grant Writing and indicative of an influx of younger fair professionals – Succession Planning. The convention also organized a Lobby Day – NYSAAF uses a consultant, but partners its lobbying effort with the state's Farm Bureau.  To reinforce the need for legislative support, the NYSAAF holds lobbying days where fair managers can speak with legislators personally. In addition, the NYSAAF has composed letters for managers to use to further press the issues home.

The main issues for New York fairs are $750,000 in premium funds, $2 Million in marketing grants and $5 million in Infrastructure grants. “We aren't asking for increases, we are just hoping to keep them at consistent levels,” said St. Jacques, adding that at the convention more than 30 member fairs signed up to send representatives to the state capital to implore politicians to support the state's fair network.

The Great Gatsby

One topic widely discussed was the Bird Flu outbreak. The H5N1 has been found in poultry flocks in California and other states and while no immediate action is being taken by the NYSAAF, “we are continuing to discuss it. Everybody knows about the potential impact it could have on the chickens and our number one priority is keeping the public safe. New York does a great job in handling animals, and raising consciousness about the bird flu. It's all part of the planning and while we didn't take it up at the meeting officially, the plans are in the place. Everybody is prepared and watching it closely.”

While the convention itself eschewed a specific tagline, the theme of the convention was the Roaring 20s. The annual closing banquet encouraged attendees to Get Their Great Gatsby on and dress in Jazz-Age attire, including pinstripe suits, feathery boas, stocking and garters, and bob haircuts. “It was a lot of fun, people really enjoyed getting dressed up,” he said.



As one of the most populous states in the union again gears up for its season, NYSAAF members remain committed to the mission. “The key is agriculture. There aren't as many people growing up farms, but there's a lot of interest in fairs, farming, local produce. Fairs have programs now for kids in the city where they can lease a cow to show. They commit to going to a farm and taking care of the cow than showing it at the fairs. Programs like that keep fairs in touch with their communities and with farming and agriculture.”