A park-and-ride option is on the table for next year’s Westerner Days after three attendance records were set.
The overall tally for the five-day fair was 93,965 people, up 1,276 from the previous record of 92,689 set last year. On Sunday, 18,355 fairgoers filed through the gates, compared to 12,893 in 2010.
Saturday boasted the first record of the fair, with 26,825 attendees — but it also featured plenty of parking headaches.
At times, vehicles were backed up on side streets for nearly an hour waiting to enter the park. Others circled the parking lots looking for space until staff directed them to a makeshift lot.
On non-event days, there are 4,400 public parking stalls available on six lots at Westerner Park. During the five-day fair, however, there are only 2,800 parking spaces available because of the space needed to house the equipment.
There were 5,876 vehicles on site on Saturday.
Westerner Park general manager John Harms said every available staff member was directing traffic, looking for spots as they became available and parking the vehicles in every conceivable spot they could squeeze one.
Around 8:10 p.m., however, the park ran out of space. The gates were closed for about 10 minutes until the chuckwagon races ended and then staff began parking vehicles at the racetrack.
In the coming months, Westerner Park will have discussions with the city on introducing a park and ride system for Westerner Days when there’s a major act on stage at the Centrium. Harms said about 20 to 25 per cent of the cars parked throughout out fair had only one occupant. Next year, they will promote car pooling and will consider a levy on single-occupant vehicles.
“Had we not had so many people here one to a vehicle, we would not have had the parking problems we had,” he said.
One person complained to the Advocate that a parking attendant would not accept a $50 bill before the start of the Johnny Reid concert at the Centrium. He was upset because his daughter missed part of the show because she had to find alternate parking. Harms said there are signs in the booths indicating the tellers do not accept $50 or $100 bills because of concerns over counterfeit bills. Tellers at Westerner Park began accepting credit cards and debit cards at the booths this month.
Saturday’s record attendance helped turn the numbers around after a slow start. The Johnny Reid concert, the fireworks and temperatures in the mid-20s drew the crowds. Earlier in the week, heavy rains, thunderstorms and tornado warnings kept many away from the fairgrounds.
On the opening day, 11,956 people filed through the gates, down 3,454 from 2010. On Thursday, 21,974 people attended, up 3,918 from 2010. Friday saw the largest dip with more than 10,000 fewer attendees from the previous year: there were 14,855 fairgoers compared to 24,302 in 2010.
Harms said the Friday numbers were lower because the chuckwagon races were cancelled due to the wet track and the fireworks were rescheduled to Saturday. He said it is unfair to compare the two years because on the Friday in 2010, the Marianas Trench concert helped set a new record. In 2009, 18,280 people attended Westerner Days on the Friday while in 2008, Friday drew 16,655 people.
“If you take the major concert out of the equation, Friday’s attendance wasn’t so bad given the weather conditions we had,” said Harms.
The winners of the Kinsmen/Kinette Club of Red Deer Summer KIN Be Fun Raffle were: Rob Hansen of Sylvan Lake, a Sea-Doo; Dean Hunt of Stettler, a barbecue and a side of beef; and Stephanie Quinton of Red Deer, a smoker and whole pork cut.
Brad Mulder of Red Deer won the $10,000 Central Alberta Lions Club Raffle.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com