FAIRLEA, W.Va. — Another year is in the books for the State Fair of West Virginia. The festivities wrapped up Sunday in Greenbrier County.
“We started out the fair with a sold-out Alabama show. The carnival had the best day that they ever had. We had great concerts. People always love the food and the rides. Overall, we’ve been blessed with good weather and a great fair week,” said fair CEO Kelly Tuckwiller Collins.
The 10-day fair ran from Aug. 14 through 23 in Fairlea.
Collins said live music was the highlight of the fair this year with free acts including Pam Tillis, Clare Dunn, Jimmy Fortune, the Cleverlys and many other musical artists.
“Each time we had one of those concerts, it was a packed crowd under there (the tent) and that’s something that we want to continue to do is have more free entertainment,” she said.
A tenth day was added this year to give families an extra opportunity to come down for an entire weekend, due to the fact that schools began earlier statewide. Collins said their numbers were up on the weekends, since a lot of kids were in school during the week.
“We saw that especially the first Saturday we had some traffic and ticket line backup that we’re looking to change for next year just in case it’s the same situation,” she said. “Our weekdays Monday through Friday were pretty quiet.”
Collins told MetroNews fair officials are looking into some ticketing programs, educational tours and school field trips for the coming years.
Fair-goers applauded the construction of a new pedestrian underpass that was completed just in time for the start of the fair. The new walkway was built to improve access over U.S. Route 219 to the state Fairgrounds.
“It’s easier for people. You’re not worrying about the steep grades. You’re not worrying about crossing 219 with cars. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback with that new addition to the Fairgrounds,” said Collins.
Collins said what makes the fair a success each year is to see the fair-goers enjoy their day.
“Seeing people leave with smiles on their faces, knowing they had a great day with their family and the kids got to enjoy the fair, ride rides, learn a little bit about agriculture — you know that they made memories that will last.”