The Santa Clara County Fair may fade into history next year if
it fails to lure back crowds and revenues, according to Santa Clara
County Supervisor Don Gage.
Morgan Hill – The Santa Clara County Fair may fade into history next year if it fails to lure back crowds and revenues, according to Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage.
As a representative for South County, which contains the majority of the county’s remaining farms and ranches, Gage said he supports an event that showcases pigs, sheep and other animals raised by hundreds of local youth.
But he said a county with a $227-million budget deficit cannot continue subsidizing an event that loses hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The fate of the fair will hang on attendance and revenue figures expected to be released next week, as well as the event’s performance next summer.
“We can handle a deficit of say $100,000,” Gage said. “But we can’t take the losses like we’ve had in year’s past like $300,000. We tried to make improvements to the fair to make sure we gave it its best chance, but until we get the numbers back, it’s going to be tough to tell.”
The event that ended Sunday drew roughly 58,000 visitors over the course of five days, according to Gage’s chief of staff John Gibbs. The average daily attendance figure is similar to last year’s fair, which was scaled back to just three days. But this year, organizers raised admission prices in hopes of bringing in more money. County officials also pumped more funds into advertising and music, hoping that bigger name bands would lure bigger crowds.
Even if the event lost money this summer, Gage said the county needs more than one year for “word to spread” about new investments in the fair. Officials also hope to lure back money-making events at other times of the year. Buckling sidewalks and leaky roofs have driven events from the fairgrounds in recent years, and the county has poured more than $4 million into repairing facilities on the 160-acre property, Gage said.Â
He dismissed the idea of selling the fairgrounds for development, which he said would generate $300 million in revenues. The sale of the land would help plug up the county’s budget for a year or two, but would leave the county “with no money or land” to show for it in the years beyond, Gage said. Instead, he’s pinning his hopes on increased profits from the fair and year-round activities at the fairgrounds.
The county will conduct a master plan for the site that investigates potential revenues from various uses of the site, including selling off smaller portions for housing or business development and the creation of a concert theater, according to Gage and his staff. Revenues from those improvements may help complete a decade-old plan to move the fair to South County.
Kathie Murray, of Gilroy, took her youngest son Evan Mulch to his last fair this weekend, where he showed a pair of pigs before heading off to college. Murray has had six kids involved in the Pacheco Pass 4-H Club. She cringes at the cost-benefit analysis swirling around the event.
“I think when you look at the realm of all of the things we do for education and keeping our children off drugs and out of gangs by supporting 4-H and the fair, you’re really supporting all those other endeavors at the same time,” she said. “If you get a steer, you get that animal in November and you have to feed that animal, walk it, and get it ready. It is a very time-consuming commitment that these children make, and if they’re involved in that, you know that they’re on the right path.”
This year, a dozen 4-H and five Future Farmers of America chapters brought more than 1,000 large and small animals to the fair. Organizers estimated the total number of kids participating to be more than 300, down significantly from the fair’s glory days. Outside of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, Campbell is the last city in the county with an FFA program for high school students. Sunnyvale’s 4-H barn remains in use, but is now surrounded by office buildings.
