FLORIDA FAIR NEWS CONTINUED…..………..……………………………………….. In contrast to Yesterday Village, commercial vendors,
Lake County Fair By Leah Norris
The 90th Annual Lake County Fair will be held April 7-16, 2011. We are looking forward to a
few changes happening with our layout. A new open-air pavilion was constructed this past year, and we will be moving our livestock facility there. The Entertainment Cen- ter will also be moving to a new location. Belle City Amusements will be back again this year to
offer our patrons a wide array of rides and games. Our entertainment includes Oscar the Robot, Tall Tex, Robert Smith’s Street Magic, Robinson’s Racing Pigs, and Neal Snyder’s Firefighter Show. We are bringing back Open Mic Night again this year because it was such a great success last year. We are looking forward to the changes at the 2011 Lake
County Fair, and can’t wait for opening day. Come visit us April 7-16, 2011, we’d love to have you.
Check it Out! By Mark Harvey, Manager, North Florida Fair I traveled to Winston-Salem NC the weekend of Oct 9 to
check out a new ticketing system currently being used by the Strates Shows. More about that later. I wound up checking out the Dixie Classic Fair almost as much as the ticketing system. I found a lovely Fair that possessed eve- rything we all want: perfect weather in a perfect setting. I was struck by the amount of trees and landscaping that exists on the grounds of the Dixie Classic. Many of the ar- eas that I walked were lined with crepe myrtles and trees were prevalent throughout the grounds. I was also im- pressed by the number of 19th century buildings that were used for one thing or another. The area with the old build- ings was called Yesterday Village. Some of the attractions housed within Yesterday Village include a tinsmith, a glass blower, a bowl turner, a chainsaw artist, blacksmith demon- strations, and an antique display. There were also a num- ber of antique tractors on display in this area. Ice cream was also being churned nearby using old hit-and-miss engines.
agricultural exhibits, and home and fine art exhibits were on display in much newer, large, climate controlled buildings. They looked newer and much roomier than what I am used to working with. The buildings were spaced out nicely upon the grounds too. As I mentioned before, the shade trees were a welcome relief with all the walking it took to get around the approximately 45 acres of fair. The carnival rides were spread out upon the grounds providing a nicely spaced mix of food, games, and rides. It was visually ap- pealing the way it all tied together. I’m told that the Dixie Classic has almost 350,000 annual customers and I highly recommend a visit if you can arrange it. Get there early though because parking is very limited. Many patrons have to park in the nearby neighborhoods and nearly all the neighbors charge to park in their yards. The Dixie Classic also shares a parking lot with Wake Forest University and there was a home football game going on while I was there. Now, back to the ticketing system. Strates Shows has
invested in a bar coded ticketing system that has a number of benefits, both for the show and for the Fair. From my point of view, I actually watched the Dixie Classic manager, David Sparks, as he monitored ticket sales in real time from his computer. Wow. From the Strates Shows point of view, they can track which rides are popular with the riders and ensures better inventory control of ticket sales. There are no more tickets to weigh as each rider has to scan a bar code to get on a ride. Tickets are sold in two manners – a bar coded wristband or, in lieu of sheet tickets, a bar coded card about the size of a credit card. These cards can be “reloaded” with credits as the customer wants. The price of “credits” can also be changed as market conditions or loca- tions change. This system has lots of flexibility and po- tential, as well as accountability to the company and to the Fair.
Photos from the Dixie Classic Fair
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