There were some pretty high dollar sticker price cars and especially trucks there One Lincoln SUV was 75K and one pickup truck was 90K.

If I were to guess (and that's all it is), I would guess they used the fair display cars as courtesy cars (the ones they let people drive when their car is in the shop). Again, that's a guess, as I don't know how the courtesy cars get decided either.

Loaner cars usually come from a different allowance account than special event cars. Loaners should be considered to be a rental car for all practical purposes. A special event, or show car, would have the unusual use history of no driving, but 10,000 miles worth of seat wear and door shutting. Dealers generally don’t want customers to think their 3,000 mile loaner feels like it has 13,000 miles on the seats and door latches.

Loaner cars usually come from a different allowance account than special event cars. Loaners should be considered to be a rental car for all practical purposes. A special event, or show car, would have the unusual use history of no driving, but 10,000 miles worth of seat wear and door shutting. Dealers generally don’t want customers to think their 3,000 mile loaner feels like it has 13,000 miles on the seats and door latches.

Good point. Thanks.

The amount of wear those cars see probably isn't any worse than a hail damage vehicle. My personal car has seen hundreds of butt hours throughout its life. :)

The amount of wear those cars see probably isn't any worse than a hail damage vehicle. My personal car has seen hundreds of butt hours throughout its life. :)

Agree. Same here.

How long can the fair continue to operate without some infrastructure improvements like a new monorail or space tower. Our fairgrounds looks bland and neglected.

Generally volunteer for my church food booth (Little Flower Catholic Church) great Mexican foods.

New coliseum construction looks promising.

I've attended the fair (avoided the midway games and the now expensive food like $18.00 for a smoked malnourished turkey leg. Seen bigger thighs on a white rabbit. I could purchase a 12 lbs., turkey for less than that.

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma isn't as great anymore.

How long can the fair continue to operate without some infrastructure improvements like a new monorail or space tower. Our fairgrounds looks bland and neglected.

Generally volunteer for my church food booth (Little Flower Catholic Church) great Mexican foods.

New coliseum construction looks promising.

I've attended the fair (avoided the midway and the now expensive food like $18.00 for a smoked malnourished turkey leg. I could purchase a 12 lbs., turkey for less than that.

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma isn't as great anymore.
The future success of the fair will be determined by the youth of today. The ones that play gory video games and spend their nights at raves and such. Are they going to find a monorail and space tower their idea of interesting and fun?
The fairgrounds definitely needs improvement but it needs to be modern, over the top kinds of things. What I have no idea.

The future success of the fair will be determined by the youth of today. The ones that play gory video games and spend their nights at raves and such. Are they going to find a monorail and space tower their idea of interesting and fun?
The fairgrounds definitely needs improvement but it needs to be modern, over the top kinds of things. What I have no idea.

The rides, I'm well past the roller coaster age, something like that would give me a heart-attack and put me into shock.

The rides, I'm well past the roller coaster age, something like that would give me a heart-attack and put me into shock.Me too. I'm almost 67. But that's my point. The future of everything has to be attractive to the young in order to succeed. Not attractive to us older people. It sucks for us but it's the way it is. I would give body parts to go back to a day when I rode the monorail or the space tower with my family. Or watched, worked for or drove a car at the race track. But those times are gone. And if they are to be replaced it must be with things the kids of today want to do.

Me too. I'm almost 67. But that's my point. The future of everything has to be attractive to the young in order to succeed. Not attractive to us older people. It sucks for us but it's the way it is. I would give body parts to go back to a day when I rode the monorail or the space tower with my family. Or watched, worked for or drove a car at the race track. But those times are gone. And if they are to be replaced it must be with things the kids of today want to do.

I'm up there with you, and completely agree. The State Fair of Oklahoma still draws large crowds daily. Management is smart, and knows what draws people today. We might not like it, but it gets bodies in the gates.

Better than being an Oldsmobile dealer.

Another reason crowds were light this year....

We were going to go this year but it was so damn hot. I'm not going to go when it's 95 degrees out. It's miserable. So I know the weather contributed to us not going.

I have been going every year since 2019. (except for 2020 for obvious reasons), However 2024, i decided to skip the fair. the rides were not too great last year. and the amount of vendors looked to be getting less and less every year. It was sad.

The amount of wear those cars see probably isn't any worse than a hail damage vehicle. My personal car has seen hundreds of butt hours throughout its life. :)

Speaking of bottom-hours does anyone have experience on how modern cloth seats hold up.agaist modern leather seats?

The future success of the fair will be determined by the youth of today. The ones that play gory video games and spend their nights at raves and such. Are they going to find a monorail and space tower their idea of interesting and fun?
The fairgrounds definitely needs improvement but it needs to be modern, over the top kinds of things. What I have no idea.

24 hour in person fortnight (or similar) tournament next to the car show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbLYyjkhQlQ

This guy has half a million YouTube subscribers, and gives a pretty fair overview of most of the offerings of the 2024 State Fair of Oklahoma. Looks like he went right when the gates opened on a weekday with very light attendance, but from the buildings, animal exhibits, to the stage shows, to the rides, it's fairly comprehensive on the current state of the Oklahoma State Fair.

Really enjoyed the various segments with many intensive moments throughout this adventure. Brought back some childhood memories.

Thanks for sharing, scottk.

So we weren't imaging that the crowds seemed lighter this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-state-fair-reports-2024-160137033.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMgd_BC3UaHaXd45wqiBKBPWMqo0 SmYm0Um_Zm4duSkF3Bi27ULEk_FR0YlfST7k3j0qT1wQRwfhHi RZdKyCuV3620Q_jI0LVHU0vXQj9R3R7Cj9we6DfgYv_O119mdk ih0z6SWLLoz8kRza0poOYiPMk9dVpT74O_5ZYHjz6mfE

So we weren't imaging that the crowds seemed lighter this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-state-fair-reports-2024-160137033.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMgd_BC3UaHaXd45wqiBKBPWMqo0 SmYm0Um_Zm4duSkF3Bi27ULEk_FR0YlfST7k3j0qT1wQRwfhHi RZdKyCuV3620Q_jI0LVHU0vXQj9R3R7Cj9we6DfgYv_O119mdk ih0z6SWLLoz8kRza0poOYiPMk9dVpT74O_5ZYHjz6mfE

Seems like they are saying business was off 10%, year over year, and have reasons. I'm curious how it seems to be about a direct $10 per person average spend for the last several years? Now, I freely admit I am a Fairgrounds fanboy, but the math kind of seems a bit fuzzy.

Seems like they are saying business was off 10%, year over year, and have reasons. I'm curious how it seems to be about a direct $10 per person average spend for the last several years? Now, I freely admit I am a Fairgrounds fanboy, but the math kind of seems a bit fuzzy.

Seems I'm doing a lot of seeming.

Blaming it on the weather being too hot? It only rained on the last day also. I'll have to check the weather last year and see what it was. Update. Last year temps were much cooler 2 days had upper 80's and 2 days had low 90's. Rained on 3 days but nothing too have . .20 .44 .21 This year was much hotter but first couple days of the fair were upper 80s. Wasn't until Wed the 18th did get about 90 before than it was 90 or lower. I don't think that is all that bad.

Seems like they are saying business was off 10%, year over year, and have reasons. I'm curious how it seems to be about a direct $10 per person average spend for the last several years? Now, I freely admit I am a Fairgrounds fanboy, but the math kind of seems a bit fuzzy.

Wasn't looking at spend or math but strictly the quote......."The Oklahoma State Fair saw a 10% decline in attendance in 2024". It seemed like less people and less crowded everytime we went this year.

I am a fanboy also and get season tickets but do feel the fair has steadily declined in value, food offerings and entertainment over the last several years. Like my canoo stock....I am in it for the long haul and hope for the best :)

Only decision remaining on your Canoo "investment" is when to take the loss. Sell it now and move on. Or wait until the stock goes to zero next year and claim it then. Godspeed.

The new youth policy probably had some part in this years sharp decline combined with the heat. It would get crazy in the evenings with high school kids. The fair isn't cool if you have to either go with a parent or in the middle of the day when its over 90 degrees.

So we weren't imaging that the crowds seemed lighter this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-state-fair-reports-2024-160137033.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMgd_BC3UaHaXd45wqiBKBPWMqo0 SmYm0Um_Zm4duSkF3Bi27ULEk_FR0YlfST7k3j0qT1wQRwfhHi RZdKyCuV3620Q_jI0LVHU0vXQj9R3R7Cj9we6DfgYv_O119mdk ih0z6SWLLoz8kRza0poOYiPMk9dVpT74O_5ZYHjz6mfE

It is not really surprising, the raised prices and shooting at the state fair from last year did not help at all

So we weren't imaging that the crowds seemed lighter this year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-state-fair-reports-2024-160137033.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMgd_BC3UaHaXd45wqiBKBPWMqo0 SmYm0Um_Zm4duSkF3Bi27ULEk_FR0YlfST7k3j0qT1wQRwfhHi RZdKyCuV3620Q_jI0LVHU0vXQj9R3R7Cj9we6DfgYv_O119mdk ih0z6SWLLoz8kRza0poOYiPMk9dVpT74O_5ZYHjz6mfE



To compare:

Tulsa's state fair had 1.1 million visitors this year, up from 1.075 million in 2023 but still down from the peak in 2022 of 1.2 million.
https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/11-days-of-awesome-more-than-1-million-attend-tulsa-state-fair

To be "fair", I think the weather in Tulsa was a lot cooler.