Oct. 15—It may be October 2022, but the Crawford County Fair Board formally has set the dates for next year's fair.

At its meeting Thursday night, the Fair Board approved Aug. 20 through 26, 2023, as the dates of the fair.

"We're very pleased with how this year's fair went and happy to set the dates for next year," said Dean Maynard, the board's president.

This year, the fair had a short online survey to help improve the fair and received approximately 1,100 responses, he said.

"We got a lot of feedback," Maynard said. "People were happy we had the rides back, the opportunities for free admission. They thought the midway folks were friendly. They enjoyed the free circus and pig races."

One downside people mentioned was trash often accumulated during the fair, he said.

"'The (trash) barrels were full' were a lot of the comments, but that's what happens when you have thousands of people on the fairgrounds — and we like having thousands of people," Maynard said.

The Fair Board has approved a two-year contract with Zambelli Fireworks for shows in 2023 and 2024, both with discount provisions, Maynard said.

Though there was a signed $7,500 contract with Zambelli for a 25- to 30-minute show, a scheduling error by the company resulted in its pyrotechnicians not arriving for a fireworks show Aug. 27, the last night of this year's fair.

To make up for the error, Maynard said Zambelli offered a 25- to 30-minute show for 2023 at a cost of $4,000 — half of its 2023 price and will offer a 25 percent price discount for a 25- to 30-minute show in 2024.

Meanwhile, a number of entertainment contracts for the 2023 fair are under negotiations, according to Maynard

"We're moving forward with contracts with the ride company — Main Event Amusements," he said. "We had a one-year contract with them and we were very pleased with them."

Other contracts in negotiation include KOI (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana) drag racing, truck and tractor pulls, Derbydog Inc. for demolition derbies, and musician Chris Higbee, Maynard said.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.