GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Except for an occasional bird trying to find an easy meal of leftover fries or pretzels, the Clay County Fairgrounds were eerily quiet Monday.

Most of the rides that were thrilling patrons a day earlier had been disassembled and were on the way to their next stop at Sumter County. Livestock was back at their farms. Volunteers were still resting aching feet and tired eyes. And the countdown to next year’s Clay County Agriculture Fair had already started on the marquee.

The fairgrounds were Ground Zero for Northeast Florida fun for nearly two weeks. Even with inclement weather in the last two days, everything ran smoothly. Even when finding a parking spot presented a challenge and lines were long at the rides, fair volunteers wanted to ensure everyone had a good time.

That’s why this year’s fair attracted a record 156,480 people. If not for the final weekend washout, Executive Director Tasha Hyder said this year’s attendance could have been as much as 200,000.

“We are growing with the development around us,” she said. “We knew it was going to be big, but I don’t think we realized the numbers would be that big. If you think about it, if we didn’t have bad weather (on the final) Saturday and Sunday, we probably would have been very close to 200,000. To be honest with you, on Saturdays, we averaged about 25,000-ish. And on Sunday, we average about 15,000 to 20,000 on that second Sunday. So imagine that we would have had good weather on Saturday and Sunday we would have been talking about right now.”

The previous fair record was 147,948 in 2021.

“I didn’t want to jinx myself, but this fair ran smoothly,” Hyder said. “Even the setup was smooth. I credit my team for it. They worked really hard to make this the best fair yet.”

Hyder credited the success of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Fire and Rescue, Emergency Management and county officials.

This year’s fair also broke three daily records – 23,475 for a Sunday, 8,808 for a Monday and 10,270 for a Wednesday.

Attendance was only 14,723 on the final Saturday, while Sunday’s crowd was a fair-low 5,134. Saturday’s entertainment was shut down for a thunderstorm shortly after dark, while fair-goers dealt with rain and cold temperatures on Sunday.

Despite the poor conditions on the final two days, attitudes seemed sunny. Vendors marveled at the crowds and the setup, and most reported record sales.

A warm and engaging attitude wasn’t a mistake, Hyder said. It was a big part of their focus this year.

“This was the nicest place for people anywhere – nice because we focused on that issue,” Hyder said. “After visiting the Clay County, Iowa fair, I realized that we had to focus on guest service a little bit more because we’re in the South, and Southern hospitality needs to ring true to us. We focused on that this year, so it makes me feel happy.”

Fair directors impressed that with their volunteers – all 1,000 of them.

“We talked to the volunteers,” Hyder said. “We wanted everyone to have smiles. We wanted everyone to have a great time. We made it clear that nobody’s forcing anybody to be here. They’re all volunteers. So if they don’t want to be here, or if they are not enjoying the area that they’re in, let us know and we can find another place for them to volunteer.”

The moment the lights went out on this year’s fair, Hyder was thinking ahead to next year. It will open on April 4 and run through April 14.

The goal is to make the next event better. Compared to this year’s success, Hyder’s team knows it has a lot of work ahead of them.