It’s the “Live Free or Pie Hard” themed Southeast Alaska State Fair that wasn’t. Board members and staff decided that hosting the town’s biggest event in a time of social distancing and pandemic concerns would be irresponsible. The multi-day celebration of exhibits, musical performance, games, and cuisine is rescheduled for next year.
Fair director Kari Johnson said the organization saw the writing on the wall a couple of weeks ago.
“When we finally pulled the trigger today, I think all of us were a little bit more emotional than I think we thought we’re going to be. And, you know, it’s a hard decision because it’s obviously it’s our job, but the other piece is, it is a big community event,” she said.
She said another thing that caught her off guard was the outpouring of community support following their announcement–emails and calls to express gratitude and solidarity. Instead of ticked off customers, Johnson said they’ve had community members investing in the fair’s future.
“I cannot express how great it feels to see memberships pouring in. And I want to say pouring in, but you we’re getting memberships. And we were actually a little concerned that we weren’t going to get any this year. And we’ve gotten some over the last week, and then even more today. It just shows how much the fair has meant to a lot of people over the years,” said Johnson.
Nonetheless, the cancellation of the fair and Beer Fest has upended the organization’s financial plans. Two year-round employees were laid off; summer staff will not be hired. Johnson will stay on at reduced hours to manage Dalton City with the help of one part-time maintenance worker. Nearly 50 vendors and ten entertainers will cancel their trips. Thousands of ticket holders will stay home.
Usually the fair weekend is a boon for local stores, restaurants, bars, and tasting rooms. Nonprofits like the Uglies and the Hospice raise money. Hotels and bed and breakfasts typically fill their rooms.
“Special events have become a huge part of the Haines economy,” said Haines Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Margaret Friendenhauer.
“And of all the special events in the summer, the fair is definitely the largest.”
She said it’s hard to say exactly how much money is spent in Haines during the fair, but it’s not impossible to approximate. A recent economic study estimates that the average overnight visitor spends a little more than $100 a day in Haines.
“There’s about 11,500 admittances over the four days and that breaks down to five to six thousand individual people, which is of course, is right about double our population. So it doubles the town for about four days,” she said.
Even if only 3,000 of those fair-goers are from out of town, that’s about $1.2 million in spending and roughly $100,000 in sales tax over the weekend. And that doesn’t include what locals spend.
Cancelling an event of this size is itself a huge job. Johnson is still fielding calls for the organization from home. She’s signing up new fair memberships for an event that the new members know won’t happen. They aren’t just donations. They’re investments in the 52nd Annual Southeast Alaska State Fair, which is scheduled to take place in its 53rd year.