The unintended Belle-Failure – Fair Saint Clair the little engine that might…….

*Video correction* (Amusement rides provided by Fun Time Shows, Classic cars by Belleville Gear Jammers Club)

As we finish the last half of this rough decade, we are all looking for a little bit of joy that is not going to break the bank. Looking at the months leading up to the start of Fair St. Clair, there was a general consensus that this would be a good thing for the county. The last county fair happened 12 years ago. As a child I have only visited the fair two times, and one thing that stood out to me is the shear amount of people on at the fair. You had kids running around, lines forming for rides. Parents buying tickets and telling the kids to not blow all their tickets. The event hall was packed with even more people! As I became older the allure of the fair did not move me to visit again.

As the years marched on you get into a routine and fail to realize it until something changes. I remember reading the newspaper at a local gas station, well more like read the first few lines of the paper in the stand. The fair was not returning …………..Wow. Big events put on by government agencies usually do not stop events, especially not something as prominent as a county fair. In the years leading up to the fairs closure, it faced a few challenges that it could not avoid at the time.

Rowdy crowds, unsupervised teens, lack of community support, funding, and other disturbances leave lasting negative memories for an event that used to provide cheap entertainment for the families of st. Clair County. The fair happened for 160 years prior to it ending 2015. The fair used to be five days and in its last few years was moved to 4 days. With it being revived this year it will only be a three day event. That seems like a good start and not trying to over burden themselves with a week long event. On the flip side of the coin, Madison County had a week long event hosted at Gateway with three times the attractions. This is not to knock down what St. Clair is trying to do. I did not see a lot of people talking about the fair in Madison County which can be seen as a good thing in these times as viral moments tend to be on the negative side.

I did not plan on stopping at the fair this year as I did not see much to attract me to the event. The performing acts I did not have any clue about besides one, Brett Michaels. Still not enough to sway me, but one thing did……My son. Vanna and I were talking about the fair on the way home because we passed a billboard advertising the musical performances. As a parent you learn the mannerisms of your child and how they navigate advocating for themselves. My son does this sometimes by asking a to do the activity by asking a question. Not once, not twice, but three times. Every question was structured slightly different but, all wanted the end result. Asking him if he wants to do the activity. About ninety percent of the time it is a yes.

I agreed to go to the Fair St. Clair so he could experience the fair first hand. It was up to him if he wanted to ride any of the rides there. I’m not a big fan of pop-up amusement rides on non concrete surfaces. I could tell he was excited to go to the fair and who was I to rain on his experience.

We arrived at the fair to see it was empty of people and full of water on a Friday. The first thing we noticed is that the county blocked off a section of roads to allow for their shuttle busses and foot traffic walking. We passed through the security stand at the entrance and paid $10 for and adult and reduced price for the Gremlin #2. For it being a summer day it was pretty drab. The rain the night before and earlier in the day dropped flash flood levels of water. The fair opened later Friday due to the rain. It was lightly raining on and off as we stood outside looking at all of the fair rides. Grounds crew were steady at work trying to pump standing water down waste drains.

Defiantly not a good way to start off day two of the fair. Most of the rides looked well used but were in good working condition. They were all secure and did not look like the rain caused them to sink or list to a side. The ride operators were in full swing wiping down the water off rides and running them to make sure everything works. We headed towards the event hall to see what was indoors and to get out of the rain.

Inside the exhibit hall were vendors in assigned spots trying to get the attention of people passing by. From insurance agents to companies selling farm equipment, there was plenty to see. In the back of the hall was a stage set up for performances. There was a group finishing up their set when we made it to the room. The Gremlin did enjoy looking at the large riding lawn mowers and smaller farm equipment in the hall.

As we traveled back into the main hall we stopped by to look at some of the classic cars they had on display at the back of the main hall. One thing I did take note of was the lack of people at the fair. I expected more people to be crowded into the hall as it was a slight downpour for a moment. No influx inwards or outwards when the rain let up. We waited until the rain passed to head back outside towards the food court. There was about 10 food trucks arranged in an oblong “U” shape with an open side facing the new Belle-Clair Speedway. It would have been a cool sight to see if there was a crowd of people standing enjoying the place and the food vendors with the speedway as the back drop. This place was empty for a Friday.

We headed back to see the rides and to see if there are any riders. We caught a mother and son riding a version of “Shazzam” and a child riding a spinning tea cup like ride. A carny tried to get us to play one of the basketball games and we declined as Gremlin #2 did not want to play any of the games. To see the disappointment start to build up in him was sad to watch. I had to tell him this was not the state fair that I went to when I was younger. It was people everywhere. We ended up leaving about forty-five minutes after arriving.

Was this a failure of an event………..yes and no. What caused it to fail in my opinion? The weather for a starter! It was horrid for most of the days of the fair. The day we went it was a torrential downpour. The rain even caused the delay of the opening night for the raceway. It kept a lot of people from attending this year and with social media playing a big hand in speed in which information travels; many people got a chance to see the experience without being there. The second reason was the lack of close parking for people. The county did have shuttles that took people to the fair from various county parking lots in Belleville. We saw the shuttles running but did not see many people riding the shuttles. The last reason seems to be people were not happy paying for entrance into the fair when it used to be a free event. You just paid for tickets to do attractions or buy good directly from vendors. A close runner up could be seen as the large police presence at the event and Brett Michaels dropping out.

Now to end this on a positive note, I do commend St. Clair county for trying to bring back the county fair. That is a tall order to fill when it has not been in operations for a decade. You have to attract new customers, retain the people who support the county no matter the cause, and bring back the people who have nostalgia. Three different eras of people all with different wants for a major event. The new customers want excitement and grand events, the supporters just want to see it do well and will at least show up for one event. The last group just wants things like it used to be, a hot summer night that let people have fun for a few days out of the year that did not break the bank. The county tried to provide for all three groups but really only had success with the supporters. I fall into the group of supporters. I paid to get in along with my son and really had high hopes for the fair this year as it would bring in more business to the area at a guaranteed time of the year. The supporters were the ones scrambling for tickets to the first race of the Belle-Clair Speedway. The place sold out and people were enjoying that moment of hope. St. Clair knew that the race had to go on no matter what because to many things where against this fair already. So when that gate opened to the raceway people could not wait to get in and grab a seat. From pictures and videos being shared on social media, it looked like everyone had a smile on their faces watching history being brought back to life for many more people. St. Clair already is planning on holding the fair again next year July 29-31 2027. For more information you can check out their website FairStClair.

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