The Green County Fair concluded Sunday with preliminary estimates putting the crowd at 33,000 for the five-day event, about 1,500 less than last year or a 4 percent decrease.
Fair treasurer Susan Konopacki said some of the decline was probably due to a struggling economy and higher gas prices.
Both are reasons organizers of Green County Cheese Days, scheduled for Sept. 19-21, should find ways to make sure they can keep large crowds for its biennial celebration.
It could be a struggle. The economy isn't predicted to get any better by September, and gas prices, while hovering around $4 per gallon, could shoot higher. Negative news about one seems to affect the other.
Granted, the Green County Fair and Cheese Days are different celebrations. The fair is confined to the fairgrounds and focuses on 4-H activities. Cheese Days is a regional festival, held in downtown Monroe, that draws a much larger crowd.
Cheese Days encompasses many more events, including for the first time a "Family Farm Adventure." There's also polka lessons, old-time cheesemaking demonstrations and a huge parade.
Just because Cheese Days is more broad in its appeal, however, doesn't mean the committee should take lightly the job of marketing the festival.
No celebration is immune from faltering economic news.
The committee should aggressively tout old standbys that draw people to the festival, but also its new events, events that may attract a new crowd to the three-day party.
Even after a solid promotional effort, the committee should prepare itself for a decrease in people coming from farther away. Many people just aren't traveling as far to have fun this year.
The job of the committee will be to make sure those who are at Cheese Days will have a good time. That's never a problem.
Fair treasurer Susan Konopacki said some of the decline was probably due to a struggling economy and higher gas prices.
Both are reasons organizers of Green County Cheese Days, scheduled for Sept. 19-21, should find ways to make sure they can keep large crowds for its biennial celebration.
It could be a struggle. The economy isn't predicted to get any better by September, and gas prices, while hovering around $4 per gallon, could shoot higher. Negative news about one seems to affect the other.
Granted, the Green County Fair and Cheese Days are different celebrations. The fair is confined to the fairgrounds and focuses on 4-H activities. Cheese Days is a regional festival, held in downtown Monroe, that draws a much larger crowd.
Cheese Days encompasses many more events, including for the first time a "Family Farm Adventure." There's also polka lessons, old-time cheesemaking demonstrations and a huge parade.
Just because Cheese Days is more broad in its appeal, however, doesn't mean the committee should take lightly the job of marketing the festival.
No celebration is immune from faltering economic news.
The committee should aggressively tout old standbys that draw people to the festival, but also its new events, events that may attract a new crowd to the three-day party.
Even after a solid promotional effort, the committee should prepare itself for a decrease in people coming from farther away. Many people just aren't traveling as far to have fun this year.
The job of the committee will be to make sure those who are at Cheese Days will have a good time. That's never a problem.
