IT'S ON!
NICA reports that an agreement has been reached that will bring the NICA West/WFA Food Show back to Reno in January for a second straight year. The Western Fairs Assn. has provided an area in the tradeshow area of their annual convention. This seemed to be mutually beneficial. The 2010 Convention dates are Jan. 21-27, 2010 and the theme is "innovate-Celebrate". The dates of the NICA West/WFA Food Show are January 25th and 26th. NICA invites everyone to join them in Reno and get ready to innovate and celebrate.

Don Larson at Columbia, SC 2009 from Carny Town on Vimeo.

Don Larson Columbia, South Carolina interview with Carny Town October 2009

PHOENIX-The AP reports that the Arizona State Fair attendance dropped 12 percent over last year coming in at 961,000, a drop of 130,000 over last year.
Fair officials said they're OK with those numbers.
Fair marketing director Kristi Walsh said given the state of the economy and weather, a 12 percent drop in attendance isn't too bad.State fair officials were expecting a significant drop in attendance not only because of the poor economy but also fears over big crowds spreading around the flu.

THERE ARE PROMOTERS AND THEN THERE'S JOHNNY SANDS

FRANK ZAITSHICK INTERVIEW IN RALEIGH

DEGGELLER SHOWS INTERVIEWS

STRATES INTERVIEW

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No more ``Tilt-a-Whirl'' or funnel cakes.
With a shaky economy and no county fairgrounds to call its own, the Broward County Fair is changing locations and downsizing.
The result: no carnival rides and food booths, but plenty of homespun activities.
This year's fair, scheduled to run from Nov. 20-29, will be held at the Pompano Beach Citi Centre, a 972,000 square foot shopping plaza located on the southwest corner of Federal Highway and Copans Road. The spelling bee will be held near the LensCrafters. Horticulture displays will be set up by Lowe's hardware store, and student art displays will line the way to Sears.
``The Broward County fair has always been the stepchild of fairs in the state of Florida,'' said Elaine Fitzgerald, spokeswoman for the nonprofit board charged with organizing the annual fair.
Unlike Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties which have permanent fairgrounds set aside, Broward has no such space. Instead volunteers each year wrangle up a new location, fill out new sets of lengthy permits, and try to lure local sponsors to a new venue. The fair has moved six times in its 34-year history.
``We have to reinvent the wheel every time,'' Fitzgerald said.
Entry to this year's fair will be free to the public, which organizers hope will draw crowds to events like the Miss Broward County Fair pageant or the Beautiful Baby contest, which will be held on a community stage set up in the center of the shopping plaza.
Still, without rides to sell tickets for, organizers fear they may not be able to raise as much money for student scholarships as they have in the past.
Last year the fair cost roughly $1.2 million to produce with the bulk of the funding coming from private sponsorships. Whatever profit was made from ticket sales was earmarked for scholarships and prizes. Over the past three decades ticket sales from the fair funded $2.5 million in scholarships for Broward students. ``This year is not a money maker year,'' said Linda Brown, marketing coordinator for the Broward County Fair. ``At this point we're just trying to do right by the community and the schools. We would rather keep the fair running than have a year that it's not running at all.''
Broward fair organizers point to the Miami-Dade County Fair and Expo as a prime example of the perks that come with having a permanent home. Since 1972, Miami-Dade's fair has been held on 250 acres in West Miami-Dade. The land was set aside by the county and leased to fair organizers. Having a steady site, at Coral Way and Southwest 107th Avenue, has helped foster better ties with sponsors, and crowds who know where to head each year, said Phil Clark, president of the Miami-Dade County Fair.
``You not only have to have the facilities for that year, but for 10 years down the road,'' Clark said.