Colorado State Fair (Denver, Pueblo, Greeley: best cities, live in, airport)

[Josseppie]

Durango Bound.

I love the fair and think that it is a unique event in Colorado and I am very proud that it is in Pueblo so yes I will continue to post pictures.

McGowdog,

Thank you! I will be at the fair again this weekend and will post more pictures.

[Josseppie]

I have some more pictures of the fair that I will be posting over the next few days.







This was the Beach Boys concert at the events center....

[Josseppie]

Some pictures of the Fiesta Day Parade.









This was Central High School and Pitts Middle School. Way back when I went to both schools.

[Josseppie]

More pictures of the state fair parade!











For fun one more picture inside the grounds.

[Josseppie]

Well Denver is at it again as they are trying to take the state fair away from Pueblo. This has been in the news for a while now here in Pueblo but when it made the editorial of the Chieftain I decided to post about it in the state fair thread.

Denver trying to take the fair from Pueblo is not new and has been going on since the late 1800's and Denver always tries to find a new reason for why they should host the fair instead of Pueblo. The Denver MSA is a thriving metropolis with its own fairs and even the Western Stock Show that is struggling so there is no reason they should try to get southern Colorado's fair even if it is the state fair with all the prestige of having such a event especially in a rural state like Colorado. Because of this I can only think of one reason: Some people in Denver, mainly law makers and some business people, are jealous of Pueblo. Now I know some of you are going to say Josseppie is at it again and Denver is not jealous of "little" Pueblo but honestly its the only explanation I can come up with for them always trying to get the fair. As another example of jealousy Denver tried successfully for years to keep Pueblo from getting a major university as they feared the kind of impact a major university would have on this "steel town" and I have discussed it in the CSU Pueblo thread but I wanted to just point it out here just to show that its not only the fair. However, this post is about the fair.

This year they are trying to say the fair is losing $2.3 million dollars but its fuzzy math as they are taking out all the grants the fair receives. If every non profit took out all the grants they received they would be losing money as well so when all that is taken into account the fair only lost $379,000 dollars. Not bad considering we are in a recession especially when other state entities are losing a lot more. Plus look at all the good the fair does in the state with 4-H, FFA and all the other exhibits that bring together the best of the best in the state in one location. Plus Pueblo being more of a rual city is a better location for a state fair not a large metropolis like Denver. I mean even the Western Stock Show struggles to make it work there so moving the state fair to Denver would completely change the nature of the fair and in my opinion that would not be good for the state of Colorado. So Denver needs to realize that the fair is here to stay in Pueblo and they can enjoy their own fairs like the Western Stock Show and the Cherry Creek Arts Festival as moving the state fair is NOT AN OPTION!



This is from the Chieftain:

IT HAPPENS every year. State auditors look at the books of the Colorado State Fair and discover — gasp! — that the Fair doesn’t turn a profit. In the latest iteration, the auditors determined that the Fair operated at a $2.3 million loss during the past fiscal year that ended in June. But the auditors failed to consider the other revenue streams such as grants and government funding at state, county and city levels. When those are taken into account, the net loss was about $379,000. The Colorado Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the Fair, back-filled the net loss with $375,000. That a state agency should “lose” money should be no surprise. The Department of Corrections is funded by the Legislature and operates at a “loss.” The same can be said across the spectrum of state government activities.


The link: Another assault - The Pueblo Chieftain: Editorials

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Well Denver is at it again as they are trying to take the state fair away from Pueblo. This has been in the news for a while now here in Pueblo but when it made the editorial of the Chieftain I decided to post about it in the state fair thread.

Joss, I think you'd better be more concerned with the state pulling the plug on the fair than it moving to Denver.

[McGowdog]

If I'm not mistaken the Taste of Colorado takes place right during when Pueblo has its fair and as you would attest, the Greater Denver Metro has plenty of stuff to keep folks from there from coming down to lowly Pueblo.

It would be a shame for southeastern Colorado and the Ark Valley in general should Pueblo lose the fair.

Add:

Does anybody remember when the fair was something like 17 days long and not just the 11 that it is now? Could this be why it's losing money or is this a way to stop some of the bleeding?

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Joss, I think you'd better be more concerned with the state pulling the plug on the fair than it moving to Denver.

They have been trying to do that as well for as long as I can remember. In the 80's when Pueblo had the economic collapse due to the steel industry the state fair really suffered as Puebloans had little money to spend. However this is a odd time for Denver to try to move or close the fair as Pueblo is heading out of the recession and in many way ahead of the state plus regional planners now predict Pueblo will grow so there is no reason to think that as Pueblo, and Colorado Springs, continue to grow the fair won't grow as well. Sure it will most likely need grants and subsidies but show me what state agency does not?

Does Pueblo need to stay on top of this? Sure and that is why I posted it but honestly I am not worried Denver will move or close it as Pueblo has to much political power to ever let that happen.

[Josseppie]

I want to add that I believe the fair grounds has to be one of the most underutilized state buildings in Colorado. They have the events center, expo center, art galleries, large outdoor arena etc. If the state would spend a little money on them there is no reason they could work with the Pueblo Convention Center to be a premier destination for conventions and concerts. This would not only make the fair profitable but help out the city of Pueblo and give the state of Colorado another place to hold major conventions outside of Denver in buildings they already own. So instead of trying to keep everything in Denver they should think outside the box like in other states that have more then one large city and try to make it the best possible fair grounds they can.

[phetaroi]

The Denver area would be a much better location for the state fair. The reason I say that is: location, location, location.

People coming from the west will usually want to come via I-70. The population centers of the Front Range -- well, Pueblo is the most distant for many of them.

I think perhaps it ought to be put up to a non-binding statewide vote.