By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As the Carbon County Fair makes its final preparations for its grand opening on Thursday, June 5, Carbon Events and Recreation Director Kourtney Cox joined the KOAL newsroom to give a peek at what goes on behind the scenes of the fair.
The planning of the fair doesn’t happen overnight; in fact, planning for next year’s fair starts almost immediately after the conclusion of the current event. “We usually meet about a week or two after the fair and do a debriefing. What went well? What didn’t? What could we add to the next year? What do we not want to include in the next year that was not a great experience this year,” said Cox. “We talk about what we want to incorporate in the next year to drive our theme. So that’s another thing: establishing the theme so we can get the logos going and start reaching out to our usual attendees.”
Another major part of the fair planning process is gathering sponsors. Cox explained this process,” So in years past when it came to the County Fair, we would send out letters to potential sponsors and ask them for their support. This year, we were a lot more personal with contact. And so our committees went out in person and spoke with some of the companies that are our sponsors this year.”
She added,” So I would say that’s kind of what it looks like is just going out and making that personal contact and utilizing those personal relationships that we’ve already got to be able to bring in that additional support for these events.”
As with any event of its scale, the planning of the Carbon County Fair comes with problems that the planning committee needs to overcome. Cox discussed some of the hurdles the fair committee had to navigate,” take the Battle of the Bands, for instance. It’s not easy to just throw out sign-ups and have people come in. We sometimes have to recruit those people to jump on board and be involved in those things.” She continued,” We have grandiose ideas for how we want things to turn out. For example, this year, we’re adding some old-fashioned games, which I’m very excited about. Husband and wife calling, hot dog eating, pie eating, those traditional things from years past. We’re hoping that the coal shoveling competition is going to be a good turnout. But we’re still realizing that’s a very big undertaking in and of itself.”
Our penultimate topic of discussion was the major sponsors of this year’s fair,” I have to get a shoutout to you guys. KARB Kickin’ Country, you guys have always been such a big supporter of our fair and this year our rodeo. And I think what many people may not know is that you guys have a production side called PATTS Media Productions. You guys will be doing all of our production for the Black Diamond Rodeo. So, one of the things that I’m very excited about is that we have a jumbo screen coming out. It’s 20 feet wide by 12 feet tall, and everything that you see on it is going to be courtesy of PATTS Media Productions.”
Cox listed other sponsors: “USU Eastern, rPlusEnergies, Intermountain Electronics, the Autofarm Group, Wolverine Fuels, Big Four Services, they are the ones who built and are bringing the cage for us, the cage experience that people have heard so much about. Carbon Corridor, Castleview Hospital, igotpoop.com and Market Express, to name a few.”
In closing, Cox shared,” Don’t miss it. We’re starting Thursday at 6 p.m. with opening ceremonies at the Carbon County Fairgrounds in Thelma’s Park. We’re going to have a kickoff concert as we usually do. It is free to attend, and that is Natural Causes. They’re a big community favorite. So we’re excited to be able to bring them in. And then from there, Friday and Saturday are just packed with different events and exhibits. And you’re not going to want to miss this. This is going to be an incredible weekend. I’m excited, and I’m planning it, and I can’t wait to attend it.”
To view a full schedule of events or for more information, visit CarbonUtahFair.com.