Sonoma-Marin Fair wraps up run with record attendance

The Sonoma-Marin Fair, Petaluma’s annual celebration of fauna, Ferris wheel and funnel cake, wrapped up on Sunday, capping a five-day run that saw an estimated 65,000 guests, the most in the fair’s 76-year history.

There were 61,792 attendees in 2014, which was an 8.5 percent increase from the year before. This year’s exact guest totals, including those with prepaid or complimentary tickets, are not yet known, but the 47,703 who bought tickets at the gate represents the second-highest paid attendance at the gate, said Sonoma-Marin Fair CEO Sarah Cummings.

This year’s theme, “Only at the Fair,” was chosen in part to highlight the ongoing attraction to the spectacle that rises every year from the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in the center of town, she said.

In an age when recreation often happens in the glow of an electronic screen, the fair’s enduring popularity has tied together generations of attendees in a tradition woven deep into the fabric of Petaluma itself.

“It’s those classic fair traditions. Those things that you can only see at the fair,” Cummings said. “The thing I like about it is it’s such an individual thing. For some people, it’s the cotton candy. For others, it’s the livestock. For others, its the rides. It’s different for every person.”

A hot afternoon sun did little to dissuade scores of attendees from walking the grounds last Friday, where frozen yogurt and snow cones were edging out the iconic fried fare. Thrilled cries filled the air from a backdrop of whirling rides, while young and old alike tried their luck at classic carnival games.

Petaluma residents Trish and Curt Bascherini and their daughter, Brooklyn, were checking out the pigs in a shaded barn while awaiting the “Great American Pig Race” later that day. Coming to the fair has become an annual tradition, they said.

“They always have great headliners,” said Curt, who recounted the popularity of this year’s Beach Boys performance and other big-name performances from years past.

An early estimate showed attendance for Thursday’s Beach Boys concert was up 22 percent from average, Cummings said. Other performers this year included Tower of Power, Rodney Atkins and Tanya Tucker.

Erin Busch, from Santa Rosa, came with her mother and five children. She applauded the pay-once ticket price - $15 for adults and $10 for children and seniors.

“It’s nice and mellow. You pay to get in, and then the kids get to spend the day having fun,” she said.

Among the most popular attractions Friday was one that carries a tongue-in-cheek hint of repulsion - the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. The crown went to Quasi Modo, a pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix whose affable personality was as distinct as the multiple birth defects that give him his unique hunchback appearance.

For all of the classic traditions, the fair also achieved the very modern goal of reducing its electricity and water use this year, Cummings said.

Livestock competitions took on the rules of a “natural show,” meaning less washing of the animals prior to judging and an estimated 25 percent savings in overall water use, she said. Energy-efficient lighting installed by the fair’s ride provider reduced electricity demand for those rides by 40 percent.

“We’re doing our part to be responsible,” she said.

It was also the first year that the fair offered a $2 ticket discount to Petaluma Transit riders, something that Cummings said she’d like to continue for 2016.

An economic impact study in 2009 showed that annual activities at the fairgrounds, including the fair, promoted $10 million in spending elsewhere in Petaluma, she said.

Work has already started to determine the theme for next year’s edition, which will be held from June 22 through June 26, Cummings said. That work will take place simultaneously with efforts to renew the fair’s lease with the city, currently $1 per year for the 64-acre site. The lease will expire in 2023, and some residents have already identified other uses for the land in the heart of the city.

But the fair has many supporters who would be loathe to see the tradition end. Tim Ossun, a Petaluma native living in Fresno, was among those likely to come back in 2016. He brings his family to the hometown event every year.

“We’ve got a great fair in Fresno, but it’s 750,000 people. Here, it’s small. It’s funky. It’s home,” he said.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)