The 2022 Kansas State Fair carnival ticket sales topped $1 million Friday night, with two more nights to go.
The grandstand acts have also brought in $1.8 million in ticket sales, State Fair General Manager Bryan Schulz advised the fair board Saturday. That was about $200,000 in pre-fair sales.
“We didn’t beat Friday night last year,” said Tom Thebault with North American Midway Entertainment, which runs the carnival. “We had $9,000. But we were up from 2019. We still have two beautiful days ahead of us.”
Last year was a record year for the carnival in Hutchinson, earning $1.7 million in ticket sales, Schulz said.
“I don’t know if everyone expected it to come later in the day, but we got hit hard,” Thebault said. “We were selling wristbands from the apron, if they had money, to kill the lines. We jumped from the ticket booth for at least an hour. We’ve never done this before on a Friday.”
Carnival operators asked for permission to stay open until midnight, but ended up closing around 11:30 p.m., Thebault said.
“They came in, hit it hard and got tired,” he said.
Once it reaches the $1 million mark, an additional percentage of the proceeds will go to the fair, but will be designated to make improvements to the grounds that will benefit the carnival under the operating contract.
Thebault said there was “no real issue” that he was aware of. Fair board members said they also haven’t heard any negatives and praised carnival workers for clean and safe operations.
“They’ve done a great job of getting us moving at the right time,” Thebault said of the midway crew. “Some years, that doesn’t go so well. This year we’re a little shorthanded, but they seem to understand the job and get it done.”
The carnival employs some workers locally during the fair, but he wasn’t sure how many. They mainly manage the ticket and food booths, he said, in response to a question from the board.
“We appreciate coming here,” Thebault said. “It’s very difficult, but once we’re here, it certainly feels like home. You people are great; customers are great.”
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Happy camping and vendors
Fair board members who volunteered to work the ticket booths Friday night agreed with Thebault’s assessment of the crowds.
“I worked at Gate 5 yesterday afternoon and evening, and they certainly went through Gate 5,” said board member Sarah Green. “I trained myself not to look at how long the line was.”
Board member Holly Lofton called the opportunity “an eye-opener” and suggested board members thank ticket holders when they see them.
Another new source of revenue for this year’s fair, “dry camping,” is doing well, Schulz said, bringing in more than $7,500 so far. For the first time, the fair is charging $10 to camp and they have set up some designated camping areas.
“We’re still getting people coming in,” Schulz said. “We’re going to come up with better signage and sell all those spots.”
Campers parked “everywhere,” Schulz said, and often took prime parking spots for the entire 10 days. Then they would leave trash and waste gray water when they left, which had to be cleaned up. The new camping fee will help cover those costs and it has led to better behavior from some, he said.
Several board members said they had talked to vendors around the grounds and everyone seemed happy, that sales were good, that they appreciated the new signage and that the bathrooms have remained clean.
“I’ve heard that two or three times,” Loften said of the praise for clean bathrooms. “And I haven’t seen an overflow of paper towels, not once.”
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Arrests overnight
Lt. David Golden of the Kansas Highway Patrol reported just six medical calls Friday despite the heat.
He also reported that soldiers arrested six minors around 1 a.m. accused of robbing a vendor.
“We had stolen a seat on two different occasions, and we thought if they did it twice, they might come back,” Golden said. “Of course they did.”
The six fled on foot, but the force followed and captured them all. After being interviewed, they released the teenagers to their parents, with charges pending.
“We’re going to put in some soldiers for a rabbit prize,” Golden said. “They were quick.”
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More than $1,000 worth of merchandise was recovered and returned to the seller, he said.
“It was a win for us.”
Board chairwoman Paula Landol-Smith said she would have asked some vendors to say how great security was with troops on the ground and they weren’t chaining things up at night.
“We want them chained up,” Golden said.
The drumbeat of DK bosses will return
Grounds entertainment that drew praise from the board was the goat milking contest, won for the second year in a row by the Hutchinson Catholic priests and the Kansas City Chiefs drum and mascot.
Schulz noted that the priests were so far ahead of the competition that Rev. Aaron Spexarth was throwing milk at people and it was a fun event.
The drumming had such a good time, it indicated plans to return next year, he said.
Even the Chiefs’ wolf mascot and Ike, the fair’s new buffalo mascot, had a great time together.
Friday night’s concert by Tech N9ne sold approximately 2,300 tickets and generated approximately $12,000 in merchandise sales, of which the fair will receive $3,100.
A board member not present on Saturday, but who was at the board meeting for nearly an hour on Friday and based on most of the day, advised that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
