Georgia National Fair kicks off this week. Here’s how it all started 30 years ago

On Thursday the Georgia National Fair will open its gates for the 30th time.

The fair began in 1990 with 270,000 people attending. Today it draws about half million people over 11 days. It drew nearly that many last year even after having to shut down for a day when Hurricane Michael struck the state.

Foster Rhodes, a Perry businessman, has served on the board that operates the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter since it opened. Today, he is chairman of the board, called the Georgia Agriculture Exposition Authority.

Rhodes said when the fair opened he didn’t envision that it would grow to draw a half million people.

“It’s evolved into a big event for the state of Georgia,” he said. “I think it has been very successful.”

Although the fair by far is the largest event that takes place on the grounds, a wide variety of events are held throughout the year. All of those combined draw about as many people as the fair.

Randall Walker, the newly elected mayor of Perry, said the fair has a big impact on the city.

“It brings a large number of people to our city that would not come naturally,” he said. “I think the partnership between the fairgrounds and city is extremely strong.”

Stephen Shimp, the executive director of the agricenter, said the annual budget is about $10 million. The state provides about $1 million of that, he said, most of which goes to youth programs. The remainder of the annual funding comes from revenue generated by the fairgrounds from the events held there.

Shimp said a study conducted by the University of Georgia determined that the agricenter generates at least $5 million in sales taxes each year from people coming into the state for events there. The study found that overall the facility has an economic impact of $80 million annually.

“There’s a good return on that $1 million,” he said.

It all started with a visit to a hog show in Macon

The idea for the fair dates back to 1983 when Larry Walker, a Houston County state representative at the time, visited a youth hog show in Macon. He thought young people deserved to have a better facility, according to a history on the fairgrounds website.

The idea eventually won approval in the General Assembly. Perry and Macon became the two finalists to get the fairgrounds, and Perry won by a 7-2 vote. In 1985, the city of Perry and Houston County put up $575,000 each to buy the land on which the fairgrounds now sits, and deeded it to the state. Although originally estimated to cost $15 million to build, the sprawling facility ultimately cost $25 million.

The first fair kicked off with a notable entertainment lineup, including Lee Greenwood, Ray Stephens, Jerry Clower, The Temptations, Billy Joe Royal and Tanya Tucker.

Although the fairgrounds hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including a large RV convention, an outdoor sports exposition and more, youth agriculture education remains its primary mission, Shimp said.

A notable addition last year, which was popular with children and adults, was the Baby Barn. That allows people to witness cows giving birth.

The record attendance was 532,000 in 2016. Last year the fair drew 496,000. Shimp is hoping for good weather this year to break the record.

He said the $10 fair ticket is a good value to access $750,000 worth of entertainment, and he plans to keep the ticket price low.

“I want families from all walks of life to be able to come to the fair and see what it’s all about,” he said.

The fair includes a wide variety of shows and entertainment. Show competitions feature cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits and llama. It also has a midway and a concert lineup that includes the Oak Ridge Boys, Confederate Railroad, George Clinton and others.

The fair is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, except the first day, when it opens at 3 p.m.

This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 6:00 AM.