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Reminder Assistant Editor WEST SPRINGFIELD What do 50,000 pounds of fried dough, 5.5 tons of grilled chicken and 900,000 ounces of Coca-Cola have in common? That's the amount of fried dough, grilled chicken and Coke consumed by the 1,050,624 people who attended The Big E this year. Now that The 2008 Big E is in the record books, Eastern States Exposition personnel are not pausing for a vacation, they're already planning next year's fair. "We hit the ground running," Wayne McCary, president of Eastern States Exposition, said in an interview with Reminder Publications. "The 2008 fair is history and now our mission is to sustain the quality of the fair and develop new dimensions." He explained that each department is one "spoke" in the larger "wheel" that makes the overall Big E experience. McCary said that each of the departments is working to improve the quality of their entertainment, specifically in the area of stage acts. "All elements combined are what drive people to come here and many of those things are traditional and don't change from one year to another but entertainment [stage acts] is like the frosting on the cake," McCary said, adding that big talent such as Fergie provided a fresh "energy" to the fair. Noreen Tassinari, director of marketing for Eastern States Exposition, explained that when planning the fair's stage acts, personnel are always looking "to book talent that will appeal across the board." The 2008 talent included LeAnn Rimes, Jason Aldean, Jordin Sparks and Danity Kane. Tassinari explained that throughout the fair, Big E personnel kept a running list of possible improvements for the 2009 fair. She noted that there are some elements that cannot be controlled by Eastern States Exposition, mainly the weather. Tassinari added that threatening weather caused only 38,757 people to attend the fair on the opening Sunday but that a clear day drew 105,424 fairgoers the following Sunday. "I think the number one [reason for] the decline in attendance is 100 percent attributable to rain or threatening weather," McCary said, adding that weekends comprise 60 percent of the fair's overall attendance. "What's rewarding is that in spite of the economy, when the weather was good, people came here, sometimes in record-breaking numbers," he continued. The 2008 Big E set three attendance records: the first Wednesday welcomed 75,661 people, the second Monday drew 66,970 fairgoers and the second Thursday welcomed 63,844 people. "It was a good thing to see that [despite people having] less discretionary income, they still made The Big E a family tradition," McCary said. The 2009 Big E will take place Sept. 18 - Oct. 4. | ||||||
