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Tractor and steam show attendance

N

n8terry

Member
How is attendance in your part of the country?

I went to an event today in Sturgis SD and the attendance was way down. I would guess that vendors were down 30% and so were the tractors.

This is my take on this, beat me up if you want.

Obviously gas and fuel prices have an affect, but I also think that there are fewer folks that wouldn't give a rats behind to look at a steam engine or some tractor thats 60+ years old.

QUESTION: What ideas do you have to get the attendance back up?
 
I can't imagine Sturgis running an antique tractor and steam show just a week after the big motorcycle rally. The area is probably a little burned out from having all those bikers up there last week. My brother-in-law rode up there with some friends and he said the bike rally was just as big as ever. He couldn't believe all the campers and RV's on the roads. I guess all the area campgrounds were full....they had trouble finding a place to stay.
 

Reports coming out after the rally are that revenues are down 15 to 30% depending on who you talk to or read about. I can personally tell you that motorcycle traffic around the area was way down, not the congestion that we had to put up with in past years.
 
we have three local shows hear on Delmarva peninsula. the first state tracor club, tacahoe steam and gas, and eastern shore theshermans association
the first state tractor club i feel messed up this year and changed there date and made it same weekend as car show in same town. so rooms where where not available. and attendance was low. the other two where i feel well attended. the eastern shore thrashers i feel was the best turn out in the last three or four years. and the temp was great and had a breeze all three days. hope next year is just as good
 
The Albert City IA show had numbers that were a little on the low side of normal but still respectable. There were a lot of other events happening that weekend, including state fair.

Tractor numbers were down maybe 25% for the non-feature tractors on an educated guess. The price of fuel was the main culprit.Jim
 
I have noticed a big drop in the vendors, I think due not only to the fuel cost, but to the drop in sales. One guy selling toys and literature told me his sales were off 70%. People just don't have the pocket money they used to, it's all going into the fuel tanks. Of course, I am in Michigan, and when the national economy catches cold, we get pnemonia. I noticed our local county fair had ok numbers, but not great. A few years ago, we took our neice to the fair, with our inlaws. Due to a mixup, we both bought a butload of ride tickets for the neice. We had way to many tickets. On the way out, I saw a family coming in with 4 kids. I got the tickets from my FIL, gave em to the dad. Guy couldn't thank me enough!! Made me feel pretty good!!
 
Our show was down, but i was actually surprised at the number considering temps were 100+. Vendors and exhibitors were sure down, fuel had a lot to do with that. We are goin to Winfield this morning. Always a good time.
 
We have had to add extra non antique attractions to our show to it would have went bust before now.
A few Senior citizens on pensions looking at antiques won't pay the bills.
We added a midway, dinners, breakfasts, dances, kids pedal pull, atv pull, "stock" tractor pull, camping, classic auto-truck-bike shows, quilting, various musical groups etc.
Something for every member of the entire extended family.Or fold.
Advertising and promotion on all media for 50 miles around is essential.
 
This weekend is the big Badger Steam & Gas Show near Baraboo, Wi. Yesterday had a big crowd, today"s attendance will be huge. Sunday will be big, some smaller than Saturday, usually. Perfect weather, sunny, high of 85.
Total attendance should hit at least 15,000.
This year"s feature is "Endless Tracks". 2009 feature if J. I. Case.
 
This weekend is the big Badger Steam & Gas Show near Baraboo, Wi. Yesterday had a big crowd, today"s attendance will be huge. Sunday will be big, some smaller than Saturday, usually. Perfect weather, sunny, high of 85.
Total attendance should hit at least 15,000.
This year"s feature is "Endless Tracks". 2009 feature is J. I. Case.
 
Here is a little side-bar to the Sturgis M-C rally. For a couple days last fall I shared a hospital room with a guy from Sturgis. He said that his dad got the blame or credit for starting the annual cycle rally. The son was about 70 and said his dad died just a few years ago at about a 100. The dad had been an Indian Dealer there in the 1920-30s. It was through his efforts back then that it all began.
 
For 25 years attendance at shows in the Saskatoon area has been great. The last few years interest has gone down. It seems adding music and flea markets/vendors has brought some shows back up, but several have just folded. In some cases the leaders have got old and died and the younger people have not got an interest to carry it on.

The sad part is that often the equipment gets sold and then when the younger people gain an interest they have to start over. I know two brother who buried an 18-36 Hart Parr when they took over the farm when they were 20. Now they are 60 and wondering if they should dig the Hart Parr up.

John
 
I attended the Badger steam and gas engine show,
in Baraboo, Wisc. on saturday. Huge crowds, this
must be the biggest show in Wisconsin! about
1000 tractors, 10 steam engines, 4 or 5 oil pulls
including a 80 HP Reeves, largest i've ever seen.
Their stationary engines are most impressive, the
Allis Chalmers Corliss type, with a 14 foot
flywheel is an engineering marvel, and ran so
quiet that you couldn't hear it, built like a
"Swiss Watch". (The one in Mt. Pleasent Iowa is
larger and more impressive) Whatever happened to
Americas pride in engineering, the worlds best?
 
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