Page 14 - BusinessWest September 2, 2024

Fair food is one of the perennial draws of the Big E.
Photo courtesy of the Big E
said, noting that it would have been a sharper decline had there not been a rise in attendance at night, generally after the rains had sub- sided. And had it not been for a 33% increase in the price of general admission — from $15 to $20, the first such increase in 13 years — 2023 would have been much worse for the Big E.
But enough about last year’s fair.
The Big E has certainly turned the page, and Cassidy and others charged with presenting the event are buoyed by everything from those election-year stats to early results from other fairs around the country, to the sense that the weather can’t be as bad this year as it was last.
and doesn’t expect to, espe- cially with recent events. Gov. Maura Healey is expect-
Big E
Continued on page 16
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It can’t, right?
Cassidy said he can’t concern himself with the extended forecasts, or even what the three weather apps on his phone are telling him. He focuses on what he can control, specifically the product he presents those 17 days. And by product, he means everything from the music to the rides on the midway to, of course, the food.
He believes there’s a solid lineup — some new food offerings as always, and a mix of music that ranges from Ludacris to America; Chubby Checker (back by popular demand) to Average White Band — and that 2024 will be a year to maybe, just maybe, meet his long-set goal of topping the attendance of the Minne- sota State Fair (more on that later).
For this issue, we look at the 2024 fair and how things are looking up — hopefully, not at more clouds and raindrops.
Fair Game
Speaking of presidential elections ... each year Cassidy has been at the helm of the Big E, he has sent a hand-
written letter to the sitting president inviting him to attend that year’s fair.
The letter generally goes out in late winter, he said, adding that the only president who has even responded to the missives — and he sent his regrets that he could not attend — is Donald Trump. (The only president to attend the Big E, and this was well before Cassidy’s time, was Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, who wanted to see how one of the cows he bred fared in competition.)
In keeping with tradition, Cassidy sent a letter to President Biden. He hasn’t heard back
“People may postpone a vacation, but they won’t postpone attendance at the fair.”
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14 SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
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