Final fair tally shows 79,954 visitors

The final tally for attendance at the Northwest Montana Fair showed 79,954 people attended events and exhibits last week, a nearly 2 percent increase over last year.

The Rodney Atkins concert had the highest attendance of concerts on recent record with 2,994 tickets sold. Spirit Fest featuring Steven Curtis Chapman attracted 1,375 fans.

Fairgrounds manager Mark Campbell said he believes keeping the ticket prices low for quality national and local acts made for an enjoyable couple of evenings.

 Nearly 11,000 people attended three nights of professional rodeo action. Crowds on Thursday and Saturday exceeded last year’s attendance on these same days.

 The Inland Empire Shows Carnival also has an increase in ridership, up 2 percent over last year.

 The opportunity to vote for favorite exhibits was a popular feature of this year’s fair.

After five days of balloting and 9,152 votes cast, the draft horse display was selected as this year’s fan favorite with 1,812 votes. The rabbit and poultry barn combined their efforts with the team receiving 1,560 votes.

A few write-in candidates showed on the final tally with Wood Turners, 4-H general projects, and even the Traveling’ Opry duo of Bruce and Betsy Mullen receiving tokens as they performed up and down the fair’s main corridor.