The State of Fairs

One of our excursions while we were in Michigan was to go to the Cheboygan County Fair. Now, mind you, I haven't been to a fair in 25 years (if you don't count a couple of trips to a Renaissance Fair in my twenties). But the thing I didn't like about fairs when I was a teenager is that they seemed expensive. At the time I could easily blow $10 of my hard earned babysitting money on spinny rides and cotton candy.

In fact whenever we go to a park like Legoland or Great America I do the fair calculation in my head to make sure it was money well spent. It costs $2 for a ride, so if you spend $17 on admission you need to ride on nine attractions to break even.

Well, to my surprise the costs of fairs has become more prohibitive. Considering the state of the economy, the rides are now going for $3 to $4 a person (no discount for kids). For unlimited rides it is $17 a person (the same cost as Legoland, with their 2 for 1 coupons). Suddenly a family of four is out $68 (not including admission) before you ever buy food.

So, we skipped the rides, and headed to the 4H attractions. Seeing livestock and free horse shows is always fun, and there was even a place where you could feed the animals -- for $5! Does anyone ever research the price points for their target markets anymore? We did fork over $5 and the three boys split up the food to feed the cows, goats, llamas and sheep.

The fair was pretty empty, even on kids day, and free admission for kids before a certain time. The fair is a throwback. I hadn't been in a long time, and I probably won't go to one again.