Another Great Year!

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Near perfect weather and a full slate of world-class entertainment and small-town fun all worked together for another huge year at the Clark County Fair and Rodeo.

The Moapa Valley’s premiere annual event brought more than 108,000 people through the gates of the fairgrounds over the five days between April 12-16, according to Fair Executive Director Todd Robison.

That was only slightly less than last year’s record breaking 109,000 attendance. But the two years stand out far above any previous attendance records which were maxed out at around 88,000.
“We kind of expected that we would have strong attendance last year: after the two-year COVID hiatus,” said Robison. “We knew that people would want to be out again. But we thought that would be a one-off year. We had no idea that we would almost match it this year. That was a little bit of a surprise to us.”

The weather was beautiful over the five days. There was some stiff breezes on Wednesday. But after that, the wind died down and mild temperatures with sunshine prevailed. And that is a huge attendance factor in an outdoor event like the Fair, Robison said.

“We really couldn’t ask for better weather; and to have back-to-back years with good weather like that, we feel pretty blessed,” Robison said. “If we had any one of those days with bad weather – especially a weekend day – it would have put us right back to a normal pre-COVID attendance this year.”

The PRCA Rodeo event was well attended. Robison reported that the Saturday night rodeo was sold out earlier in the week in presale tickets. Friday night was all but sold out as well with only a few odd, single-seats left open, he said.

“We saw really good rodeo crowds,” Robison said. “We have seen a stronger movement toward pre-sale tickets. When folks are concerned enough about things being sold out on the big nights that they go ahead and commit to pre-sale tickets without knowing how the weather will be, you know that you have a strong fanbase.”

All five nights of the rodeo were streamed live over the Cowboy Channel. Robison said that this is helpful in bringing national exposure to the Logandale event.

A filming crew from the Food Network reality TV show “Carnival Eats” also attended this year’s Fair to check out what the food vendors had to offer. Robison said that the program plans to dedicate an entire episode to the Clark County Fair in the coming months.

The crew planned on being there for just a couple of the five days. But they ended up going the distance and staying all weekend, Robison said.
“They kept saying that they were just blown away at what we have going here,” Robison said. “They were pretty impressed with it. It was good to hear that from folks like that who travel all around and attend about 300 days of fairs per year all across the country.”

Robison said that he has been pleased to notice a gradual changing of the guard at the event with key responsibilities shifting to younger people who grew up in Moapa Valley loving the Fair.

One example he mentioned was MVHS alumnus Makenzie Bush who returned to the community and stepped up as a Public Relations expert for the Fair.
“She was just amazing!” Robison said. “She met with the media, coordinated them and talked to them as a spokesperson. Her love for the Fair just radiated out of all that she did.”
“There were a lot of cases like that: of younger people stepping up and taking charge,” Robison added. “That is encouraging for an old codger like me that has been around forever.”

Managing such a huge crowd presented the usual challenges for the Fair staff, Robison said. There were periods of time during the late afternoons on Saturday and Sunday where the parking operation slowed down to the point that it caused traffic snarls. Cars backed up all the way down Whipple and Hardy Avenues enroute to the Fairgrounds. And those backups caused delays on State Highway 169; sometimes all the way out to the I-15 Logandale/Overton exit and beyond.

“Finally, we had to shut down northbound traffic for a time to get people in fast enough,” Robison said. “But we figured things out and it ended up okay.”

Robison praised efforts of an army of volunteers that were invaluable in making the Fair a success.
“I can’t even tell you how proud I am of this community,” he said. “I have never seen so many good-hearted people that just step up, fill in and help out; always with a good attitude. I just appreciate that so much!”