SMETHPORT — The year’s McKean County Fair highlighted local culture and brought families together — even more than expected, organizers said. Attendance numbers were up by more than 1,000 for this year’s fair, bolstered by the good weather that lasted throughout most of the week. “I think the fair went wonderfully,” said Tanya Okerlund, McKean County Fair board president.
“The hard work of our volunteers came together and our numbers were way up from what they have been the last few years.” She noted that the beautiful, dry weather was a welcome break from tradition, adding she has a hard time remembering the last time the fair saw such mild weather. “Usually it always rains during fair week but we had some nicer weather and that was beneficial for us,” Okerlund said.
“Our gate attendance for the week was up this year at 12,724 versus 11,595 from last year,” said Denise Hale, office manager of the fair. The one day of slightly lower attendance than usual was Saturday, likely due to a rainstorm. Attendance that day was 3,656 people in contrast with the 5,067 who attended on the same day last year.
More than 1,150 locals submitted entries to the fair in 2024. “I don’t have that broken into categories but each person could enter more than one thing so there are many more entries in total than that,” said Hale. “It is not unusual for people to enter more than one thing and some of the animal people may enter 20 or 30 classes.
” The Tractor Parade .