Carnival & Fair News

The Big-E got bigger in 2024. The Eastern States Expo, the largest annual outdoor event in New England, not only broke attendance records seven out of the 17-day event, but had a record-breaking streak of five consecutive days. The fair exceeded the previous year's attendance by 15 percent, but the record this multi-state agriculture-centric lollapalooza perhaps most notably broke was set in 2019, thus fully restoring this fair to its pre-pandemic growth track.

“People not are pretty far away enough from COVID that they got their consumer-confidence back,” said Gene Cassidy, President/CEO, Eastern States Exposition. “We had an amazing fair. Last year we had the most rain I had seen in the 30 years I've been year, and this year we had great weather.”

Mother's Nature's kindly demeanor was bolstered by a stellar NAME (North America Midway Entertainment) midway, a lineup that boasted Ludacris; Umphrey's McGee with Lotus; Dustin Lynch with Dylan Scott; America with Jim Messina; Brothers Osborne and Public Enemy; and a new marketing team that reimagined the fair's public outreach in fresh and engaging ways.

According to the fair, The Big E attracted 1,633,935 fairgoers this year, setting an all-time record for net attendance. Additionally, seven daily attendance records were set: Saturday, Sept. 14 – 121,854; Tuesday, Sept. 17 – 58,996; Friday, Sept. 20 – 99,912; Saturday, Sept. 21 – 178,608; Sunday, Sept. 22 – 148,297; Monday, Sept. 23 – 86,673; and Tuesday, Sept. 24 – 79,852. The middle Saturday, Sept. 21, additionally set a record for single-day attendance.

People were spending, with record midway and food and beverage revenues. Inflation was inescapable, prices on food and other items saw upticks but the fair kept admission and midway prices the same as 2023. “Our per-caps were up approaching 26 percent. Inflation was noticeable in food, but we didn't have an increase in ticket or midway pricing. Mostly our patron is led by a mom who makes the decision. The spending reflects the fact this is a place where people choose to be, Maybe they have forgone a vacation or another luxury but when they are here they spend. Our commercial enterprises, the vendors who sell merchandise, did very well. Some of those vendors sell very high-ticket items. Our piano vendor had their biggest year. We have hot tub and swimming pool vendors, and a company from Kansas City that sold metal palm trees. Those straight sales were really strong.”

NAME Midway

The strong economy and consumer spending was most evident in the record NAME midway, up 31 percent over 2023. The midway featured 49 rides.

"NAME had a good year at the Big E, weather was on our side - unlike last year where we saw a lot of rain. For new rides at the Big E, we brought along the Venetian Swings, the Himalaya, and Movie Magic which were all extremely well-received by the guests. We've found, this year, that the families are prioritizing the fair (as Gene had mentioned). The Big E has so many exciting events and activities on the go which really make it a fun one-stop-shop for making memories to last a lifetime with your kids”, said Lynda Franc of NAME.


 
What is this New England Tradition doing right year in-and-out? Franc pointed out that the comprehensive, detail-oriented focus of the fair management is foundational to the event's success. “They're working hard to make sure that all aspects of the fair are featured. We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with the team at the Big E so that we can help to make sure that fairgoers have the best Big E experience possible!"

This year especially, Franc noted the marketing program proved particularly effective. “The marketing team has always been outstanding,” she said. “They figure out what they're guests want to see or what they might want to learn about, and they take the time to tailor their messaging to be appealing to those same guests. It seems simple enough, but the care that they put into it is probably one of many keys to their success.”

According to Cassidy, the fair's marketing did undergo a major behind the scenes overall. The long-term marketing chief retired at age 69, replaced by a 46-year-old professional and the team added several additional marketing staff members. The budget itself was also increased upwards of six percent. “Things are changing so rapidly, for instance from conventional radio to stream services. It was time for a new generation to take over, and we had a new and younger staff who approached marketing in non-traditional ways.”

This year's marketing tagline both played on politics so prevalent in this election year while evoking the community ethos intrinsic to the Big-E – United We Fair. “We live in very divisive times, and fairs are meant to bring people together. We really sort of hammered home the theme and used the campaign tagline.  We had United We Farm, United We Ride – for the midway, United We Rock for the grandstand, United We Eat. We carried the tagline throughout the campaign, in newsprint, digital and whatnot.”
 
Social media took on a greater prominence. “We had more special medial promotions and more live-as-it-happens from the fair. We have one of the highest concentrations of college students than other regions in the country and we really made an effort to reach that younger demographic.”
 
The Big-E featured 145 food locations and 93 individual vendors. Cassidy said that food and beverage spending was up more than 26 percent. The fair is known for its Cream Puffs, with its new flavor – Cookies & Cream – selling more 158,000 puffs. The fair also pumped up a slow Monday with its 3-Buck-Bites promotions, where vendors offered a three dollar items “We did it as a test. It picked up food sales and attendance for that Monday, usually one of our slowest days. It enabled people to try different food vendors.”

The one drawback for this year's fair was a new Exotic Animal Ban that went into effect. Massachusetts joins a growing number of states banning traveling circuses. “We usually had a number of exotic animals and people missed them,” said Cassidy.

But otherwise, the fair exceeded expectations. “What we do mostly is tradition. People long for tradition, especially the young couples with very young children. Post-COVID, people are hungry not be isolated. We're seeing more young people who were in high school during lockdown, and they want to be connecting with the community. People want the company of others and they now place a greater value on that experience.”