The sun begins to set as crowds enjoy rides and games Aug. 10, 2023, at the Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. 

HERMISTON — The attendance for the 2023 Umatilla County Fair reached almost 66,000.

At first glance, the count of 65,697 fairgoers is a big drop from the 2022 fair, with an attendance of 83,587. But Fair Manager Angie McNalley said the fair changed how it calculates attendance to arrive at a more precise figure.

“Instead of using the fair’s income in our formula,” she explained, “we will move forward using ticket sales as the basis of our attendance.”

The idea is to have attendance numbers be more reflective of actual people through the gates, she said, so the 2023 attendance total is much smaller than the previous years “because it will stand alone and not contain the other sales figures.”

McNalley said it is common practice throughout the industry to determine attendance as a reflection of how the fair did as a whole and not by reporting people through the gates because counting processes can be very inconsistent.

“Up until now, our attendance has been determined by compiling our gross sales for parking, beverages, concessions, gates and carnival,” she said, “and plugging those totals into a formula based on previous years counting processes from when we considered our counting process most accurate.”

Change at the gateThe Hermiston Rotary Club in the past has sold and scanned tickets at the gates. This year, the fair brought on a company for electronic ticketing,

McNalley said, and the technology allows the fair to easily pull sales

reports.

“In the past few years the increased attendance and participation has required us to create more entry points, which increases the amount of people needed to man them,” she said. “We’ve had to incorporate new technology and equipment to accommodate recordkeeping and to expedite foot traffic at the gates. We simply outgrew Rotary’s ability to accommodate our changing needs.”

The fair values its partnership with the Hermiston Rotary Club, she said, and while growth is exciting, it sometimes comes at a price that requires tough adjustments.

McNalley also said Oregon county fairs have gone back and forth on attendance reporting because none have the expensive equipment needed to accurately count people as they

enter at each gate or entry point.

“Even with that technology there is always going to be room for error,” she explained.

“For instance, in our case, we have exhibitors and families who are here before the fair begins and they never leave. Those folks wouldn’t be ‘counted’ through a gate.”

Each county fair in Oregon uses a different process for counting

attendance, she continued, but the goal is to provide an accurate

attendance number and report it

separately from the overall outcome of the fair.

“Our income and participation numbers are up from last year in nearly every category,” she added, “so we know that we are growing and improving and that is the most important information to report.”

An example of that growth, she said, is more than $1.3 million paid out for the fair’s Youth Livestock

Auction market animals.

Growth also comes with costsThis also was the first year the fair had to hire a professional parking company.

“We have been experiencing so much growth that for safety reasons and to avoid longer and longer waiting times, we had to hire professionals to handle and control the volume of vehicles that we were seeing during peak hours,” McNalley said.

Growth means means more security, more parking staff, more gate staff, more office staff and the list goes on, she said, and the fair board has been integral in securing sponsorships and donations through the members’ various connections to ensure fair patrons and exhibitors have a safe, affordable, fun and educational experience.

Cash sponsors and product/service donations gives the fair the ability to progress, McNalley said, and keep up with the demand and changes.

Using tech for better fair experienceTechnology improvements also are popping up all over the fair.

Drone photography aids in set-up logistics, McNalley said, and the addition of a big screen in the Burns Pavilion allows attendees to see the action from wherever they are.

The fair receives technical expertise from the Hermiston School District’s Information Technology Department and student volunteers to livestream the animal shows throughout the fair on YouTube.

“Just like the livestreaming of the Youth Livestock Auction, the YouTube streaming was a result of the fair cancellation in 2020,” McNalley said. “We still held live animal shows and judging without the exhibitors in attendance. With this technology, they were able to watch their animals shown by adult volunteers and listen to live feedback from judges from their streaming devices.

“Technology was the critical piece that allowed us to retain the educational aspect of the livestock shows during COVID.”

McNalley also shined the spotlight on the Umatilla County Fair Board of Directors. “As a group of seven volunteers, they only have three weeks weeks prior to the fair to prep. This means they spend hours and days cleaning the grounds, making repairs, watering, mapping out locations, etc. … That is what they have to do before they can set up.”

Fair board Chair Steve Wallace, Vice-Chair John Eckhardt, and Directors Micheal Hampton, Doug Bennett, Andy Wagner, Kelly Burke and Robbie Curry are a special group of volunteers, she said, and without them, their families and their employers, the fair would not happen.

“I have a special kind of admiration for these seven individuals who make me look really good at my job,” she said.

The Umatilla County Fair has announced its 2024 fair court. See Page A6 for details.