Final 2015 Gallatin County Fair Numbers Are Released

This year's Gallatin County Fair was the biggest ever as far as overall numbers. “We are pleased with the results of the Gallatin County Fair,” said Gallatin County Commissioner Joe Skinner. “They made changes in multiple areas from pedestrian flow to gate accounting to programming. And we got lucky with the weather.”

General Manager Lori Cox said that for every dollar earned at Gallatin County Fair, it returns as much as $1.35 back to the community in fuel, groceries, retail spending, hotels, food and beverage. “The goal is grow the volume of this event to generate enough revenue to offset the mill provided by the taxpayer. We want our operations to be self-sustaining.”

Here is a breakdown of the final numbers: 

Revenues:

Gate Revenues $182,282 Up 29%

Gross Carnival Revenues $281,765 Up 25%

Gross Concessionaires $129,702 Up 68%

Gross Purveyor $41,412 Up 47%

Admission Presales $6,613 Undetermined

Carnival Presales $32,856 Up 22%

Attendance:

Total Attendance 36,281 Undetermined

Cash Gate Entry 27,992 Up 35%

Contestants 1,127 Up 32%

Event Attendance:

Mutton Bustin’ and Pig Wrestling, Wednesday 2,629 Up 325%

Hot For Teacher, Thursday 1,073 No show in 2014

Terri Clark, Friday 3,396 No show in 2014

Bozeman Roundup, Saturday 2,255 Up 169%

Attendance was not taken during the four motor sports events, however bleacher seating was full with overflow crowds. Expenses are still coming in, but projections expect a net income growth of between 40 and 50 percent over 2014 – money that can be used toward capital improvements in the future.

The Gallatin County Fair is managed by the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, under direction of Gallatin County. The first fair was held in 1903 and has served citizens of the Gallatin Valley from agricultural, urban, rural and tourist backgrounds.