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Erie County Fair Ranks 11th Largest Fair in North America; Wins 19 Awards in National Competition

Hamburg, NY - On Friday, December 27th, employees of the Erie County Agricultural Society (ECAS) gathered to thank the people of Western New York for helping the fair to become the 11th largest fair in North America according to a ranking recently published by CarnivalWarehouse.com. The ranking includes all county & state fairs, exhibitions, livestock & rodeo shows in the United States and Canada.

The Erie County Fair, held in Hamburg, and commonly known as the Hamburg Fair, was not only the 11th largest of all fairs, but the 4th largest county fair in North America.

“The ranking is quite an accomplishment for the Buffalo-Niagara region when you consider that the Erie County Fair outranks most of the state fairs in the United States including the New York State Fair,” said Jessica Underberg, Assistant Fair Manager. This past August, the Erie County Fair witnessed a record-setting number of visitors, 1,160,184, breaking the previous record set in 2011 by 10 percent.

Eleventh place is the best ranking received by the Erie County Fair in the modern era of tabulations. In 2014, the ECAS will host its 175th Erie County Fair August 6th - 17th.

In addition, The International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) announced that the Erie County Fair was winner of 19 awards, including eight first-place awards in its annual competitions. The Erie County Fair competed in class that consists of fairs with attendance over one-million. Competition included the Iowa State Fair, Tulsa State Fair, San Diego County Fair, Minnesota State Fair, The Big E and the Washington State Fair. The Erie County Fair won first place in: New Program to Promote Agricultural: Chick Hatchery Exhibit, "Ag-Sperience"; Non-Fair Agricultural Event or Program: Empire State Beef Classic Show; Program Designed to Correct an Issue Related to Agriculture: Washrack Educational Staffing; Best Individual Mobile Effort: Fairgrounds App. Competitive Exhibit Display Method or Prop: Shorn Fleece Display; New or Unique Single Class of Competitive Exhibits: As Seen on Pinterest Contest in Creative Arts; Unique Contest: Hair Competition; New Strategy to Increase Exhibitors: American Boer Goat Assoc. Double Pointed Show.

The awards were presented at the IAFE Convention in Las Vegas last month. Over 3,500 fairs, festivals, expositions and suppliers in the United States and internationally, are members of IAFE.

The Erie County Agricultural Society is a private not-for-profit membership organization. Established in 1819, the Society is the oldest civic organization in Western New York and does not receive funding from the taxpayers of New York State or Erie County.

The mission of the Erie County Agricultural Society (ECAS), sponsors of the Erie County Fair, is to preserve and enhance, by educational endeavors, the agricultural and historical legacy of New York State. The Fair strives to fulfill appropriate aspects of the agricultural, educational, entertainment and recreational needs of Western New York.

CarnivalWarehouse.com’s 2013 Top 11 Fairs based on attendance:

1 Texas State Fair, Dallas, TX 2,598,215

2 Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Houston, TX 2,506,238

3 Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN 1,731,162

4 San Antonio Livestock Show, San Antonio, TX 1,665,747

5 Eastern State Exhibition, Springfield, MA 1,481,917

6 Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, CA 1,438,514

7 San Diego County Fair, Del Mar, CA 1,425,200

8 Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA 1,374,579

9 Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, ON 1,360,000

10 Arizona State Fair, Phoenix, AZ 1,178,515

11 Erie County Fair, Hamburg, NY 1,160,184


 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Dec 31, 2013