Fairgoers who wait until the last minute to buy tickets for the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show will end up paying more this year.
The fair will stop selling advance tickets on the day the fair opens instead allowing retailers to sell them throughout the duration of the event, said Ralph Shoptaw, State Fair president and general manager. The change was one of a handful of new policies and attractions announced at the Arkansas Livestock Association’s annual meeting Friday in preparation for the 2013 State Fair, which will run from Oct. 11 through Oct. 20.
The new ticket policy should bring in more revenue for the fair because admission at the gates costs $2 more than advance tickets. Up until this year, the fair allowed retailers to sell advance tickets through the last day of the fair.
“We are the only fair our event management group knew that ran their advance sales all the way through the fair’s end,” Shoptaw said. “People won’t be able to decide on Thursday they want to come and go buy tickets at Walgreens - they’ll have to buy them at the gate. There’s a $2 difference that will mean increased sales.”
The new ticketing system will also help get more accurate counts for attendance and prevent counterfeit tickets because each stub will have an individual bar code printed on back, Shoptaw said.
The ticket change won’t be the only new thing that fair patrons notice this year. The announcements Friday also included a rundown of new foods, a schedule of musical attractions and new family exhibits.
Those waiting for the fair gates to open for free to lunchtime munchers will have 10 to 15 new items this year to check out, including fried banana splits and fried pineapple upside-down cake, said Tom Lyons, director of food services for the fair.
Some of the other additions are chicken and waffles, gravy fries, boudin (a type of Cajun sausage), pork chop sundaes, the “deep-fried hog” (a 1.5-pound fried pork chop on a stick), cheese balls on a stick, burgers on Krispy Kreme donuts, fried mashed potatoes on a stick, and bacon-wrapped, deep-fried hot dogs on a bun.
One of the strangest combinations will makes its way to Little Rock via a Pennsylvania-based concessions company that specializes in drinks. Lyons said adventurous eaters should be ready for pickle-ade, a dill pickle and lemonade infusion that will rival last year’s bacon-flavored lemonade.
The showstopper, however, will be the megaburger, a confection featured in television advertisements that will hit the airwaves shortly, Lyons said. The creation includes four hamburger patties totaling two pounds of meat, topped with four slices of bacon, chili, five slices of cheese and fried onion rings. Lyons said the meal weighs in at about 3 pounds.
World cuisine lovers can also look forward to an Indian restaurant selling tacos, an Italian stand making fresh ravioli daily and a few other surprises.
Shoptaw said thrill-seekers will see the roller coaster return for its second year in a row after being absent for decades and will find at least one new ride - a 100-foot high vertical, spinning swing.
For those attracted to the live shows, this year’s fair will include The Charlie Daniels Band, 38 Special, Josh Thompson, Night Ranger, Ginuwine and Johnny Gill, formerly of New Edition. The family shows will include a dog-tricks exhibition, a trained Bengal tiger show, pig races and a 9-foot-tall robot that will wander the park on a Segway.
For pageant lovers, Deb Crow, director of competitive exhibits, said the popularity of last year’s first Mrs. Arkansas State Fair has spread to county fairs around the state, and the number of entrants is expected to grow.
The success of some of the competitions has also meant more prize money for some junior competitions, Crow said, noting that in some cases a fifth- and sixth-place prize have been added.
Browsers in the livestock tents will also see banners with the winners of best in breed and best in species for the first time this year.
“We hope it will bring enthusiasm and help the kids take pride and want to be on that banner next year,” said Jerry Masters, director of livestock exhibits.
The fair will also offer another first this year in the swine barn - a Cowboy Church sermon on Wednesday night.
“We’ll promote that and hopefully get a really good crowd of adults and young people in there,” Masters said.The pastor “has worked with national youth associations all across the country, and he relates to young people and puts on a really good program. So we’re excited for that, and we want to get the word out.”
Shoptaw talked only briefly about the fair’s ongoing master planning process spurred by the state Highway and Transportation Department’s plans to take 75 to 100 feet of the fair’s property to rebuild the Roosevelt Road overpass just west of the fairgrounds. The plan means fair officials will be looking for a new configuration for the front gate.
The move will not affect the 2013 fair, but Shoptaw said construction will likely be ongoing during the 2014 fair, which happens to be the event’s 75th anniversary.
Shoptaw said fair officials will meet with Highway Department officials during the next two weeks to figure out how the construction plan will specifically affect the 2014 fair and its entrance.
“We’re going to be moving things forward in the next couple weeks because of those meetings,” he said. “But right now, our options are really going to depend on what they do.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 08/17/2013