Bangor State Fair attendance off to slow start

Fewer people are walking through the gates at the Bangor State Fair and those who are coming this year seem to have a firm grip on their cash.

Three factors probably account for the difference, fair officials say. The weather has not been ideal. The fair opened on a Wednesday when in the past it started on a Thursday. And the region’s economy is not as vibrant as it was a couple of years ago.

“All spring long we’ve found they’ve been tight-fisted,” said Pat Mulcahey, proprietor of Uptown Fesivals USA which is staging the midway. “On those concessions that we own we’ve found that it’s just about on par with last year.”

It’s only two days into the 11-day run of the fair so it’s a little early to predict the outcome. A change in the weather and the attendance will pick up, Dale Theriault, executive director of Bass Park, said walking out of his offices and casting a glance at the gray sky Friday afternoon.

“It’s hard to say what opening a day early means because of the rain,” Theriault said. “Wednesday was a miserable day. Had it been a good day we would have done at least as well as previous opening days.”

In 1988 with opening day a Thursday, the attendance on the first day was 7,150, the second day 13,277; in 1989 the first day was 4,887, the second day 8,764; in 1990 with opening day a Wednesday, the first day was 2,269, and the second day 6,770.

“It all comes down to the weather on the weekends,” Mulcahey said.

And while Theriault said that he did not know how individual concessions along the midway were doing compared to past years in Bangor, “they are spending money. Concessionaires who said crowds weren’t spending money at other fairs in Massachusetts seem to be happy enough here.”

The success of any carnival rides on a stretch of good weather during its run. Carnies along the midway and at the side shows all talked of needing a turn toward better weather.

“This weather has to go past us and everything will be all right,” said Scott Graham who works the booth called Machine Gun Fun. “It wasn’t dead but it was pretty awful Wednesday. Yesterday was all right. We could use some more people today.

“They spend it all right here. But every joint is different. The machine gun is pretty steady wherever we are,” said Graham. He hails from New Mexico, hooked up in Florida with the owner of a string of joints and has worked his way north for the summer.