104th Phillips County Fair in the books

When the dust from the Indian Relay Races settled, the last of the 4-H and Boy Scouts of America Burgers had been served, and the Open Class Entries had been taken down and taken home, the final numbers in attendance for the 104th Phillips County Fair were released, proof was in the pudding: Another successful event was held in Dodson.

Overall, attendance for the fair was up in 2019 with a total of 4,500 $1 tickets purchased for entry at the two entry points at the Fair Grounds, up by 600 total people from the 2018 total attendance of 3,900 according to the numbers provided by Phillips County Fair Board Member Eric Wilke.

As for the Friday night concert co-headlined by the Randy Rogers and Casey Donahew Bands, a total of 957 tickets were sold which is down from last year's concert which featured Root's & Boots that saw an audience of 1,698.

Saturday's Grandstand events once again featured the AMX Races and the Demolition Derby and while the AMX attendance was down this year - 275 this year as compared to 369 in 2018 - the Demo Derby stayed consistent with 753 tickets sold this August, nearly equaling last year's attendance of 766.

Last, but definitely not the least, was the Sunday Indian Relay Races and Youth Rodeo which exceeded last year's tickets sales by a total of 182 tickets sold for a total attendance of 1,316 this ahead of the 2018 pace of 1,134.

This year's Fair also featured a bigger Midway ride which Wilke said boosted ticket sales this year for rides. He said ride enthusiasts can hopefully look forward to the addition of at least one more big ride at the 105th Phillips County Fair.

The Phillips County Fair Board's next meeting is slated for Tuesday, August 20 at 6 p.m. at Stretch's and the public is welcome to attend.