STATE

Illinois State Fair: Fair or flop?

Doug Finke, State Capitol Bureau
The sun begins to set over the Illinois State Fairgrounds as fairgoers make their way down Illinois Central during the Illinois State Fair, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2015, in Springfield, Ill. Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register

At least the Illinois State Fair is providing a new diversion from all of the state's other troubles. It is offering up the mystery of the disappearing crowds.

Attendance at this year's state fair was reported to be about 412,000 people. The attendance last year was pegged at 845,000 people. For the arithmetically impaired, that's more than a 50 percent drop in one year.

But at the same time, revenue from entry tickets and parking dropped just a little bit, by about $55,000. Prices were the same. The length of the fair was the same. The weather wasn't the same, but it was way better this year than last, so that shouldn't have kept people away.

Grandstand acts also did well this year, according to the fair, so that shouldn't be the reason for the low turnout.

However, fair officials did say they are using a new methodology to determine crowd size, one they say is "tried and true by event industry professionals nationwide." Fair manager PATRICK BUCHEN said that based on this methodology, he doesn't think attendance this year actually dropped. Instead, he said attendance figures in the past were inflated.

That's not a new allegation. It's been a common complaint for years that state officials padded attendance figures at the fair. Remember, they're estimates, not hard and fast numbers. Buchen also makes a persuasive argument when he notes that revenues from this year's fair are comparable to last year despite the alleged 50 percent drop in attendance. So either fewer people were spending a whole lot more money this year than before or a whole lot of people in previous years weren't spending anything at the fair.

Or maybe the previous crowd estimates were that far off.

Whatever is going on, the numbers at least give people a new topic in state government to hash over while the budget impasse goes on and on and on.

And we can probably be thankful Republican Gov. BRUCE RAUNER's administration hasn't blamed the crowd numbers on MICHAEL MADIGAN-controlled fairgoers being ordered by the Democratic House speaker to stay away.

At least they haven't yet.

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Of course, not everyone is buying Buchen's explanation. They believe fair attendance really was down significantly from previous years and not because of some faulty estimating formula.

There have been several explanations offered for this presumed drop in attendance. Like the kids-in-school theory. The start date for the fair is set by law. Because of the calendar, this year's fair didn't get underway until mid-August. By that time, a lot of kids were already starting school and consequently not going to the fair.

Some have suggested that having fewer days of harness racing may have been a factor. Maybe, but that would have to be reconciled with stories that have been going on for years about the decline of harness racing in Illinois and that it wasn't a draw at the fair like it once was.

It will be really interesting to see if Buchen's new way of estimating crowds leads to a similar drop in attendance at the Du Quoin State Fair going on this week.

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For the first time since the House started meeting (nearly) weekly in Springfield during the budget impasse, House Speaker Madigan did not meet with the news media last week.

No reason was given, but the get-togethers had assumed a certain sameness since there really isn't much happening from week to week. Still, you never want to pass up a chance to ask Madigan questions since he normally doesn't do those availabilities.

No doubt some may already be getting hazy on the Madigan mantra, so here it is again to keep the memory alive: The House is in continuous session. Operate in moderation and not in the extreme.

Now memorize it.

— Contact Doug Finke: doug.finke@sj-r.com, 788-1527, twitter.com/dougfinkesjr.