By Jessica Ramsey
Attendance to the S.C. State Fair may reach a 10-year-low this year.
Approximately 200,000 people had walked through the fair’s gates as of yesterday, according to a representative of the S.C. State Fair.
Although there are three days left, it’s unlikely that the fair will clear last year’s count of just over 492,000, according to fair officials.
Fair attendance has been steadily declining for the past decade, despite higher numbers in 2004 and 2010.
The reason for this seems to a combination of the cost to attend and an increasing lack of interest from the public.
“I can’t believe people would pay that much to go to a fair that’s not that great,” said Jessica Quijada, 20, a college sophomore from Orangeburg, who did not attend.
“The fair was lacking,” said M. DeVille, 19, a native of Georgia. DeVille, who was attending her first S.C. State Fair, said that she finds the prices unreasonable.
DeVille also called the practice of paying general admission then a separate fee to attend one of the fair’s concerts “ridiculous,” and said that she would not be returning to the State Fair.
