County Fair Drew 19,064 People This Year

Photo by Len Villano.

The 2022 Door County Fair drew 19,064 people. Tom Ash, president of the Door County Fair Board, recapped it all during the annual Door County Fair meeting held Tuesday before the Door County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Lower attendance might have been expected this year after a 2021 Door County Fair that celebrated its 150th anniversary and drew 20,346 people.

“I’m happy to announce attendance was down only 1,000 [this year over last year], and significantly higher than pre-COVID,” Ash said.

In 2017, the Door County Fair drew 15,927 people, followed by 17,105 in 2018 and 15,745 in 2019. The fair was canceled in 2020 because of the global pandemic.

The high attendance this year was even more impressive given the heavy rain on the Saturday of its run, when outside entertainment was scheduled to take the stage. That forced staff to improvise and move it all inside.

“We have to pay for the events in advance, rain or shine, and some way, we had to make that happen,” Ash said.

Special acts and features in total, for example, cost the fair $138,353 this year. That’s less than last year ($190,044), but in keeping with pre-COVID 2019 ($131,715).

The staff, board and community all pulled it off, changing the location on a dime and then restoring it all for the next day’s indoor events.

“It really went flawlessly,” Ash said.

On top of it all, he added, “we actually made a little money.” 

It cost $255,516 to put on the fair this year, and it brought in $276,041. The largest source of revenue is gate receipts, which brought in $124,637 this year. The second-highest revenue source is the County of Door, at $96,000.

The budget for the 2023 Door County Fair – which will be held Aug. 9-13 – is $296,990. 

“It was a great year at the fair, and we look forward to next year’s fair,” Ash said.