Pages

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Is This Fair


There is going to be an alternative fair to the traditional Mid-South Fair this year. The Mid-South fair has been a Memphis tradition for the last 151 years. Expo South is putting on the first Delta Fair and Music Festival at the Memphis Agricenter. The new venue is being put on starting next week, so it will be over one week before the other begins. Based on the entertainment and location alone. It's safe to assume their target audience is different than that of the "Mid South Fair." It will be interesting to see how one fair affects the other. Though it may be nice and new. No way an upstart venture can compare with such an old and established organization. Will you attend one or both? If just one; which one? Read the link below for more info:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/aug/29/e29fair/


Go to Delta Fair and Festival website:

http://deltafest.com/

Go to Mid-South Fair website:

http://www.midsouthfair.org/


6 comments:

  1. Second Delta Fair & Music Festival learns from its inaugural run
    By Pamela Perkins (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
    Thursday, August 28, 2008

    With a 120-foot Ferris wheel, circus acts, hot-air balloon rides and two nights of fireworks, organizers promise that this year's Delta Fair & Music Festival will be bigger and better than the first.

    The second annual Delta Fair, which starts Friday and continues through Sept. 7 at Agricenter International, will also have a slightly improved layout and streamlined ticketing to help it run smoother than last year, said Mark Lovell, owner of ExpoSouth, which runs the fair.


    Eric Powell assembles the Ferris wheel at the Delta Fair on Wednesday afternoon. Workers with American Amusements also set up booths and rides at the Agricenter in preparation for the fair, which starts Friday and runs until Sept. 7.

    Melissa Godette (left) and Toni Fenton battle for cleaning supremacy as they hose down rides and game machines Wednesday at the Delta Fair.

    "I just think that we're better organized," Lovell said. "We think people will be pleasantly surprised about how much smoother the layout is."

    He said a new fair layout should help ease street traffic and ticket lines, both of which occasionally got backed up last year.

    Instead of separate prices for advance single-ticket purchases, gate prices and events, tickets will cost $8 at the gate or $6 if purchased online for groups of 15 or more. Tickets to the rodeo on Saturday and Sunday include fair admission. And unlimited ride wristbands have only one price: $20.

    The fair's layout has been slightly reconfigured, in part to accommodate the Farmers Market in the Agricenter's red barn, Lovell said.

    Mark Hoggard, Farmers Market manager, said his customer flow last year was "disturbed mildly" by the large amount of fair traffic.

    "As in anything that you have a first year of, you have hiccups in it. And we had a few minor hiccups, nothing really major. Everything was pretty well directed last year after the first two days," he said.

    He said the Farmers Market will be open its normal hours. Market-only parking spaces will be set aside for customers.

    Lovell believes that the better organization and new features will help Delta Fair attendance break the 200,000-visitor mark.

    About 170,000 people attended last year's Delta Fair, billed as a safer and more family-oriented alternative to the long-entrenched Mid-South Fair. The older fair will have its 139th and last edition at the fairgrounds in Midtown later next month before moving to a 150-acre site in Tunica County.

    But Lovell said he has paid little mind about the position of his fair as it relates to the Mid-South Fair's plans.

    "My job is to put on a first-class, high-quality, fun, safe, family event for anybody that wants to come. We want them to come," he said. "We didn't do anything extra because they're leaving. We're just doing our thing. It's like motorcycle racing: Don't look back to see who's behind you. ... Are you going to go any faster because they're back there?"

    DELTA FAIR

    Gate Hours

    2 to 11 p.m. Friday

    10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday

    Noon to 10 p.m. Sunday

    10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday (Labor Day)

    2 to 10 p.m. Sept. 2, 3 and 4

    2 to 11 p.m. Sept. 5

    10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sept. 6

    Noon to 10 p.m. Sept. 7

    Prices

    Admission: Adults and youths 13 and over, $8; children 5-12, $5; children 4 and under, free. Online-only rates for 15 or more tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children. Prices include all concerts and special events.

    Unlimited ride wristbands: $20, all ages.

    Rodeo tickets (includes fair admission): Adults and youths 13 and over, $15, children 5-12, $12. Free to senior citizens 62 and older on Sept. 4.

    Parking: A $5 donation is requested. (Part of proceeds will go to charitable organizations.)

    Some New Highlights

    "Crafts, Culinary and Collectible" contests, circus performances, a beauty pageant, $20 hot air balloon rides all 10 days, "Donkey Basketball," a "Classic Car Cruise In" on Labor Day from the Wolfchase Galleria to the Agricenter and the Keith Sykes Songwriters Celebration.

    Live music will include Disney's "High School Musical 2" live stage performance on both Saturdays, The Romantics, Foghat and William Lee Ellis. (For more about musical acts, see Friday's GoMemphis.)

    ReplyDelete