Redmond, OR 

 

THE DAILY LOG. Not too impressed with this one.  How do you spell 'doozey?'... deschutes

Wednesday, July 30 was opening day.  The people (non-buying) came out and filled up certain areas of the fairgrounds.  However, we have a very bad space.  They put us in the last row where there are a bunch of kid's activities going on and I do not want that.  For sure. Weather is okay, temps in the 80's and cloudy and breezy.

 

Thursday, July 31 was another slow day and worse than Wednesday.  Alice Cooper did a 2-hour performance and afterwards, most of the crowd made a beeline for the gate.  The carnival has been hopping and that's where a lot of the crowd goes.  Food court is between the carni' and the vendor booths and that gets busy sometimes...especially around 6:00, when concert-goers are over there stuffing their faces.  I am beginning to think (or realize) that the vendors are just window dressing.  We have decided not to come back here next year (even though we have reached the weekend and sales could pick up dramatically) and will seek out something smaller

 

One nice thing is that they have these golf carts transporting people around the fair.  I have utilized these several times heading back and forth to the food court (which is long ways from us) and coming to and from the entry gates.  However, there are quite a number of them going around and you have to pay attention.  This fair is huge...but....

The food is...uh..well.....typical fair food.  Found a decent Taco Salad. Found a good cheeseburger and the garlic fries just weren't 'garlicked' enough.  Looked around for Philly Cheese Steaks and couldn't find anybody selling them.  That's quite odd.  This big fair and no freaking Philly's?  Odd, ain't it?

I am really beginning to think that this show is turning out to be one hell of a doozy.

Friday, August 1.  Free admission from 10-3 brought in more people.  Some sales before noon but  tapered off during the PM.  Fortunately we had some cloud cover and breezes, which kept the heat down and made it comfortable to walk around.  However, still poor sales and little traffic flow.  Bad show.  Real bad.  Tried to find some Italian Sausages but didn't see anybody selling them, nor any other kind of sausages.  Found a place with a 2 for 1 deal.  Oh gosh.  Cheeseburger wasn't very good.  Chicken nuggets were okay, but this ain't McD's and they had no sauces. When the lady told me that I could get '2 for the price of 1' I almost left.  Now, I wish that I had.  Some of the worst 'fair' food I have ever eaten/not eaten in this case.

Around 9:40PM, I heard a commotion in back of our canopy.  A bunch of PUNKS had gathered and they were trying to start fights.  We tried to contact security, but it took quite awhile and a lot of things could have happened  When you have large events like this, you need instantaneous police help, but they just aren't around.  Two bicycle patrolmen did come and broke up what was remaining and the trash disbursed.  Maybe there's something in the water here...people want to fight, very few people buying from the vendors, Lots of young lady's walking around with their little ones,  etc. 

I guess that I would not recommend this fair to my worst competitor.

Saturday, August 2.  I set my GPS for the address to the main post office and left the RV Park around 7:15.   As we drove around town, I saw flags all over the place and then remembered that they were going to have a parade and I considered myself lucky that they hadn't blocked off the streets yet or I would still be looking for a way back to the fair.  I mailed my bills, etc., and then departed, heading back to the fairgrounds, where we parked near the North Entrance.

This looks like this is one fair I really want to forget.  Having to walk almost a mile from the RV Park, poor internet connection, bad booth location-got DUMPED in the last row, long walks to the food court, somebody stealing two of our animal backpacks during the day on Thursday, a fight nearly breaking out just 10 feet in back of our booth.... on and on and on. Will pack up quickly tomorrow and get the hell away from this morbid town.

This is the first fair that I have done where the actual fair does not provide WiFi.  People need to stay in touch and check their stuff.  I really can not find anything positive to say. A number of vendors booths are also situated in dead grassy areas, where the blown  grass and sand smother vendors' clothing.

They said that there would be a large crowd after the parade finished....early afternoon, but I never saw it.  Don't know what happened.  Sales were sporadic and sluggish all day long and pretty much dead during the evening.  The weather had turned substantially cooler during the evening and people began closing up at 10:00.  Thought today would be the best day of the fair......uh uh uhhh.

I found a food booth which had bratwurst, polish and a Killer Kielbasa, which seemed delicious.  The name sounds like a boxer....  In this corner from Warsaw, Poland  ....Killlllllerrrr Kielbasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  However, I asked the lady what do they put on top.  She told me 'onions and peppers, but we ran out.'  Oh gosh...that sounded so good.  "oh well, I guess I'll pass on that."  That my friends, is when Killer Kielbasa went down with a 'knockout punch!'

Ross, the person who runs the fair stopped by our booth mid-afternoon and greeted us and thanked us for being part of the fair.  I am quite impressed by this and do appreciate this very much.  However, he did explain that he placed the booths as the applications came in and that's how I ended up on 'skid row.'  I mean the back row.  He explained that I would have to return my application in December in order to get a better spot, which would have been vacated by another non-returning vendor.  I think that they will have quite a number of vendors who will not be returning.

Sunday, August 3.  It's getaway day.  The fair ends at 5:00 and it would be nice to hit the road by 5:45, but I doubt it.  This is Mexican Day at the fair.  (I had thought that EVERY DAY was Mexican Day here) We arrived in the parking area around 8:15 and there were about 500 standing in line waiting to come in. Or maybe they thought that they were standing in line for jobs.  As for us, we go to our space and open at 10:00. Would love to pack up and hi-tail my butt out of there right now.

Today turned out to be our worst day of this fair.  I can say no more....need to move on with my life and down the road to our next fair.  Mexicans didn't purchase anything from us. Absolutely no Mexicans bought anything.