For more than four decades, the Sonoma County Harvest Fair has been a standalone event following the Sonoma County Fair in the late summer. Recently organizers have been thinking of a plan to partner the two together starting in 2020. In 2013, organizers got rid of a lot of the Harvest Fair’s exhibits and activities and shifted its focus to food and wine, which is very popular in our very own wine country of Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Fair CEO, Becky Bartling says the Harvest Fair board of directors will make a decision and she thinks it would increase exposure for the Harvest Fair and create an opportunity for normal fairgoers to attend who wouldn’t be exposed to it normally. According to some of the statistics, the paid attendance at the Sonoma County fair dropped this summer for the sixth year in a row, falling to 125,802, which was about 75,000 fewer than the fairs last peak in 2013. Since many of the activities are gone at the Harvest Fair, some people have felt like there isn’t enough to do and that is why they have stopped attending. They hope that the chance of merging it with the county fair will reach a new audience, and more people will want to visit.
“I have never been to the Harvest Fair, but I would be interested in checking it out. I’ve heard a lot about it and I think it is a good idea that they want to partner with the Sonoma County Fair because it will most definitely bring more people in,” says Sonoma State student Juan Trejo. “I go to the Sonoma County Fair almost every year but have never attended the Harvest Fair. If they were to partner together it would be a good idea because I feel like more people would attend and there will be a lot more activities to do,” says Kiana Olson, a student at the Santa Rosa Junior College.
So many people in Sonoma County love living in wine country and tasting so many of the different wines as well as attending the fair to enjoy the horse races, the food, and all the excitement, it would benefit the community a lot to have them come together and hopefully bring in a whole new crowd of people. Repeating the two events every year can also be a lot of work, and they will see more wineries and winegrowers participate. The Harvest Fair has also gotten rid of many of the activities that they used to have, so this way people can enjoy all the activities that the fair has to offer. Fair directors and winery participants are worried about the weather, however, and how many people will show up in the heat of the summer instead of the cooler weather in October to drink wine, but that will be tested out and hopefully won’t be a huge concern.
The partnership of the Harvest Fair and the Sonoma County Fair is a good idea because it will bring in a new audience who like the best of both worlds, some delicious wine and a whole lot of entertaining activities and enjoyment, the main reason people love attending the Sonoma County Fair. People will start to ask themselves, what is the best wine to pair with a corn dog on a stick?
