PUEBLO — The 11-day run of the 2009 Colorado State Fair ends today and is on pace to outdraw last year’s event.
State Fair general manager Chris Wiseman said people looking for economical activities not far from home may be behind the 4 percent boost in attendance over the first seven days of the fair.
Almost 487,000 people visited the fair last year.
Gates open today at 10 a.m., and activities include a performance by Boulder band 3OH!3, followed by fireworks at the Events Center. Admission to the fairgrounds is $5; tickets to the 3OH!3 concert are available through Ticketmaster.
The fair, in its 137th year, is making money after having cleared $3 million in debt and after reversing a string of losses earlier this decade with the help of a $650,000 annual state appropriation.
Sales and lodging tax collections in Pueblo typically spike during the fair. About 22 percent of Pueblo’s lodgers tax is collected in August and September. Last year $111,401 in sales tax was collected at the fair, or 3 percent of the total sales tax collected from all businesses in Pueblo.
