Attendance at the 2025 Elkhart County 4-H Fair fell to more than 174,300, a decrease from past years, with hot, humid weather playing a significant role.
Despite the drop, organizers remain optimistic and are already planning for next year’s event. Elkhart County 4-H Fair Shelly Steury says they eagerly anticipate hosting another fantastic nine days of summer.
13 comments
I don’t like to be Donnie downer but 10.00 is too much to get in. Food prices are high, I know a lot of it goes back to the clubs and organizations but the vendor prices shouldn’t be so high. People want to go to concerts events without paying an additional fee.
I know the weather can play a big part in attendance but the reason why my family doesn’t attend the fair is the cost, it’s always been expensive to go to the fair but we would save for it and say well it’s only once a year. The straw that broke the camels back was starting to charge for the grandstand for concerts. Seriously the fair needed to charge for the grandstand?? There were years where we would come out 3 or 4 nights, get something to eat, go back to the grandstand and wait for the concert. We saw so many wonderful concerts, we were a part of the attendance and spent money. Well, now we don’t.
Completely agree with everyone else. The ONLY reason our family doesn’t go like we used to is because of the rediculous prices. The weather had nothing to do with it.
Is it any wonder? Ten dollars a head to get in the gate. Lackluster grandstand entertainment that you now have to pay to get in to. There are other county fairs nearby that still provide quality entertainment for less money!
If we are going to spend a few hundered dollars on family amusement. We will go to Holiday world or Ceder Point and probably save money at that vs the local Elkhart fait. It’s non profit and the prices are ridiculous.
It had nothing to do to the weather. As in the past fair week in Elkhart County Indiana is always extremely hot, humid and rainy. It’s In July the hottest month. Has been that way for decades. The reason why ridiculous prices, terrible entertainment and now charging for grandstands. Not with it. Spend money elsewhere is better.
The prices are absolutely ridiculous. It now takes 12 to 15 tickets for each ride. And it the same damn rides from 40 years ago. 100 buck to win a stuff animal.
Here’s another thing we make so many rvs in goshen and what showed up was gulfstream.
Yoy will continue to lose people cause of this prices. The fair is about the community not money…
I agree with everyone else. It has just become to expansive. I guess i have to ask what changed. Watched many a show from the grandstands and big names and never paid unless we wanted track seats which we did sometimes. I know running that thing is one hell of a big job. And i congratulate them but it seems someone has gotten dollar signs in their eyes. I ued to be proud to say Elkhart county had one of the largest fairs in the country, guess those times are over.So sad
Very e pe sive. Definately have improved in the layout adding pavement and benches. But still with lousy entertainment and increased cost in all food and admission we only went on free Sunday
Totally agree, it’s not the weather. It’s the prices. Even with 9 and under being free, a family of more than two or three can’t hardly afford to go their and get lunch or dinner, let alone let thier kids ride on the rides. The ride ticket prices are ridiculous, so it’s easier to not go the fair at all than to have to explain over and over again to your kids that they can’t go on the rides. Not only that but if someone is going to a concert thier admission into the fair should be in the price of their ticket, or make the grandstands free again. All the money that is made is for a good cause , I get it, but don’t fool yourself into thinking the weather had anything to do with attendance dropping, it’s called inflation and needing to put money elsewhere, and not going broke over a few hours of walking around and looking at farm animals.
The WEATHER?! How about the ridiculous prices! 10-15 tickets per ride when they used to be 2-4 tickets… $10 entry fee when it used to be free-$5. Food vendor prices are ridiculous as well. That’s why my family didn’t go. If I’m gonna spend 100’s of dollars I’d rather go to Cedar Point or Great America or something of that sort.
I agree with everyone else. It has nothing to do with the weather. The weather has always been hot or rainy, and we have all powered through, without air conditioning and with just tents for the animals during windy thunderstorms back in the day. It’s the cost.
This fair makes so much money they don’t know what to do with it, as you can see by how they build more and more infrastructure each year. Their revenue and expenses are publicly available. Search for Elkhart County 4-H & Agricultural Exposition Inc on the Guidestar site. From their IRS Form 990, for the most recent year, their expenses and revenue for 4-H activities were $3,205,479 and $2,789,111, respectively. Their expenses and revenue for private and public events (whatever that means) were $347,106 and $777,216, respectively. And expenses and revenue for meeting room space for 4-H clubs and extension service meetings was $63,146 and $119,219, respectively. That leaves a profit of $69,815. All this built on the huge amount of volunteer labor.
I know the argument for charging for grandstand events is that most other fairs do. However, you have to compare the overall cost a visitor spends from all activities. The special thing about not charging for grandstand events is that we used to be able to just go watch whatever was there for 20-30 minutes and then move on if we wanted to. It was so relaxing and we got to see so many different things.
Now that you have to pay, the grandstands are guarded like a prison from start to finish. The worst part of it is that for some events, the stands are only a third full. If it were still free, many more people would be there and able to enjoy whatever event was going on.
This year, the 4-H fair queen pageant, which used to be one of the most popular events years ago, was now booted from the grandstands, where it has always been, to make room for another band and another evening where the fair can charge big bucks. The pageant was moved to Heritage Stage. The grandiosity of the event was lost. There was limited seating, it was crammed, and it was hard to see and hear what was going on.
The parade now has far more commercial entries than 4-H entries, and there are way too many entries, so that it is an exercise in endurance to sit through it. Years ago, the 4-H floats used to be full of kids who built their floats themselves.
The fair used to be for 4-Hers and the community, but sadly, they are now being pushed to the side in favor of bringing in out-of-town crowds from 2-3 hours away to come to the concerts. The growth of the fair was good for awhile, now, the tide is turning and it’s decidedly negative. I’m just waiting for skyscrapers and parking garages to show up. At some point, the commercial, high-profit part of the fair and the 4-H part may need to part ways. I have a feeling it will be the 4-Hers being pushed out to a new site while the commercial part swallows up their space. Then, you’ll just have a concert venue and carnival.
The fair board needs to consider the visitor experience, reduce prices, and start putting the 4-Hers first, and the commercial aspect second. Why are you trying to make so much money when it’s supposed to be a non-profit? I do wonder.
“The fair makes so much money” yet you show their net revenue at $69,815? While that’s in the black, it certainly doesn’t quantify as a huge revenue maker for any business.
You obviously have no idea what acts cost for concerts. Do you think those artists come for free? No every single one of them are six figure acts so the Fair is supposed to put on $750,000 worth of concerts for you to come see for free while they’re left figuring out how to pay the act?
What are you buying or doing now that cost the same that it did years ago? Nothing. Everything has gone up. As such, the fair’s expenses have gone up too. Think about what it costs for paper products such as toilet tissue, paper towels and supplies to handle a crowd for 176,000 over 9 days not to mention the rest of the year. Electricity, water and sewer rates have also skyrocketed, not to mention Liability Insurance which all events must carry to protect them from unfortunate things that often occur with guests.
I would be curious to hear what else you can find to do for $10 for several hours? You can go to the Fair for $10 and if you choose to do so, walk around all day long looking at animals in the all the 4-H barns, the commercial exhibits, the 4-H and Homemaker exhibits and just people watch and not spend a penny more if that’s what you want to do. You could easily go spend a day there on $25 which would more than cover your lunch. There are water fountains on the property so you can find water to drink.
You’re just one of those people who like to complain to have something to complain about.