2006 Fair 3rd Best

Great weather smiles
on seven of eight days

     Sparkling sunshine for seven of its eight days made the 2006 Fryeburg Fair the third best on record in the event’s 156-year history.
     Early rain on the opening Sunday gave way to warm and sunny days and yielded a record attendance day on Tuesday, Senior Citizen’s Day. Barry Emery, ticket superintendent for 31 years, reported a total daily paid attendance of 187,608.
     Tuesday’s gate totaled 17,014, exceeding the record of 15,496 set in 2000. Emery estimated that there were also at least that many senior citizens attending.
    “We don’t count the seniors that day but judging from the tremendous crowd on the midway, I’d say we had at least as many seniors as we did people buying tickets,” Emery said, noting that children under 12 are admitted free all week.
     Attendance for the week saw 16,653 on opening Sunday (record 29,995 in 2001); 22,818 on Monday, Woodsmen’s Day (record 26,017 in 2004); 17,014 on Tuesday, (old record 15,496 in 2000); 16,716 on Wednesday (record 20,125 in 2001); 18,999 on Thursday (record 19,764 in 2001; 27,652 on Friday (record 30,396 in 2004); 42,517 on Saturday (record 46,834 in 2001); and 25,011 on the final Sunday (record 27,652 in 2000).
     The best year came in 2004 when nearly 200,000 people bought tickets to the fair. The second best was in 2001, which had a daily paid attendance of 189,235. There were 184,983 in 2000 and 184,533 in 2002. Fair officials double the daily paid figure to come up with an estimate of the total number people attending the fair.

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