Putnam County Fair Attendance Calls for New Facility

Record attendance at the Putnam County Fair calls for a larger facility.

That according to Fair Board President John Allen.

“The new facility is totally up to the County Commission. We rent the fairgrounds from the county and so we will continue to use whatever facility the county makes available,” Allen said. “If the county really wants to support us and see the fair grow, we are going to have to have more property. We are going to have to have more parking. We are reaching our maximum potential at the moment.”

Over ten thousand people attended the fair on Saturday alone, Allen said.

“We had 54,600 people come to the fair,” Allen said. “That is the largest number of people to attend our fair in at least the last ten to fifteen years.”

The Putnam County Fair saw record attendance numbers. (Photo: Putnam County Fairgrounds Facebook)

Allen said the quality of the fair brings people from all around.

“We had the biggest fair program that has ever been put on at the Putnam County Fair. We put on a fair this year like no fair that has been put on here in twenty-five years,” Allen said. “We had something for everybody and it is something for everybody every day of the ten-day fair.”

If fair attendance continues to rise, parking will remain a concern for the fair, Allen said.

On Saturday, fair attendees parked out in town and walked to the fairgrounds. Some people parked as far as Interstate Drive, Allen said.

“We will do what we can to move some events around to have more people on the nights we didn’t have maximum attendance,” Allen said. “We will move some events around to try to accommodate more people on those nights. Ten thousand people is about our limit until we get a new facility.”