Another banner year at the Pacific National Exhibition came to a close Monday after hundreds of thousands of people took in the rides, attractions, agriculture festivals and more.
A total of 803,598 people visited the Fair at the PNE this year. That is down from 937,485 visitors during last year’s centennial celebration.
As spokeswoman Laura Ballance explained, the weather in 2011 has been, oddly enough, too good.
The warmth and blazing sun that characterized the end of August was particularly hard on seniors and families with young children, she said.
“We don’t want rain, but the heat is really hard on us as well,” Ballance said.
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“We’re certainly not complaining about sunshine. The great thing about being 101 years old is that you have 100 years of trending to look at. And for this weather pattern, it was a great year.”
Moving children’s programming inside, to allow young kids to beat the heat, helped keep spirits high, as did a change in entry rules that saw kids 13 and under admitted free.
“People were in such a positive frame of mind,” she said. “I think a lot of people in the area were just waiting for summer to arrive.”
While the exact number of attendees hasn’t yet been tallied, as about one-third of the annual attendance is on Labour Day weekend, it’s clear there were a number of successes.
Atmosfear, a new ride that takes thrill-seekers 20 storeys high before spinning them around at 70 km/h, was a smash hit for all ages, Ballance said.
“It’s a really gentle ride. If you’re nine or 90, as long as you can take the heights, it’s something anybody can do.”
Moving the Peking Acrobats into the 10,000-seat Pacific Coliseum allowed more patrons to witness the high-flying performers: the previous venue fit only 1,300 people.
And the nighttime finale shows, which have featured acts such as Chris Isaak, Wilson Phillips and Vancouver’s Hey Ocean!, drew more than 90,000 people, Ballance said.
The final part of the PNE takes place Thursday, when the winner of the 2011 PNE Prize Home will be drawn and announced live at 6:30 p.m.
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