The Chattooga County Agriculture Fair experienced a decline in both overall attendance and carnival ride sales at this year’s event, according to Kristin Croy, Secretary-Treasurer of the Ag Fair.

Total attendance for the four-day fair tallied 6,832 paid gate admissions, an 8.7 percent drop from the 7,486 people who attended last year’s event. This figure represents all paid entries over the course of the fair. A noted operational change this year was that livestock participants received armbands at check-in instead of traditional passes, a departure from past practices.

Peachtree Rides Inc., the company responsible for operating the fair’s midway, also reported a decrease in revenue. Gross carnival ride sales were approximately 9.5 percent lower this year. Phillip Guthrie of Peachtree Rides Inc. offered broader context, indicating that overall sales have been down for carnivals and festivals across the region throughout the year.

The recent decline marks a shift from some previous years’ figures. Here’s a look at attendance over the past several years:

This Year: 6,832
Last Year (2024): 7,486
2023: 7,315
2022: 10,174
2021: 6,523
2020: Canceled Due to COVID
2019: 8,360
2018: 9,757
2017: 8,454

This year’s attendance is comparable to the 2021 numbers, which followed the fair’s cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and significantly lower than the peaks seen in 2018 and 2022.

The Chattooga County Agricultural Fair boasts a rich history, with its origins tracing back to an agricultural exhibition held in front of the old courthouse in 1904. This event, initially an exhibit of county products and livestock, was seen by contemporary newspaper accounts as the genesis of the county fair tradition, leading to the first official Chattooga County Fair in 1905. The fair continued for decades before being discontinued in 1976.

After a hiatus of over 30 years, efforts to re-establish the fair began in 2013 when then-Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters appointed five community members—Lyn Hall, Rebecca Thomas, Larry Simpson, Eddie Massey, and Jimmy Holbrook—to the Chattooga County Agricultural Fair Council. Their work culminated in the successful return of the fair in 2014, revitalizing a cherished local tradition.