Perry Fairground events on the rise

The Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority for the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter held their monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 14 in the Fairview Room of the Reaves Arena. This is the second meeting this year that they have been able to meet in person, and excitement buzzed in the air as a vision of normalcy on the horizon was shared among the board, fairgrounds staff and special government officials as they discussed events and opportunities moving forward for 2021.

As COVID cases are on the decline and vaccines are administered to more and more people, public facilities are entertaining the notion to open back up. Events at the GNFA have started to pick up. Executive Director Stephen Shimp expressed, “We are grateful to have our doors open and operating at full capacity. We’re slowly working back to being wide open again.”

One of the most notable upcoming events for the fairgrounds is the new carnival event, May Days on the Midway. After discussing different options on how to properly kick off a new year from the previous one, the board has decided to move forward with the carnival. Not to be confused with the Georgia National Fair, the carnival will only feature rides, food and games. Keaton Walker, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer for the fairgrounds, shared that the event has garnered significant interest on social media since the release a few weeks ago.

“It’s blowing up. We’ve had over 650,0000 impressions on just one of our posts alone,” Walker revealed. “I think it’s going to be a really big event for us. We’re excited for the facility and for Perry.”

The carnival has the potential for being an annual event depending on the turnout succe ss. This year, the event dates are May 20-31 and it will be free admission. Those in attendance can purchase tickets for individual rides or armbands for $25 on weekdays and $30 on the weekends and Memorial Day. 

The authority has very high hopes for the success of the carnival. “It’s catching a lot of traction. People are overwhelmed and excited that we’re going to have a carnival,” Shimp shared.

Ashley Brown, Commercial Sales Director, reviewed the events from the past month. Though the March events number was lower than average from the previous years, FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) occupied much of the facility and the fairgrounds fared well from the event. He also shared exciting current and upcoming event news for the fairgrounds. 

Currently, the GNFA is hosting the Peach Blossom Cluster Dog Show and has received a tremendous turnout. Running since April 13, the show will last until the 18. Brown explained that the show is the biggest in the nation and is twice the size of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. What makes the Cluster Show stand out is the amount of different competitions for dogs to compete in, so viewers are able to watch different abilities and specialties of each breed.

As far as finances go for the fairgrounds, they are on the incline as the year goes on. With the help of senators and representatives in support of the GNFA, financial support has pushed the fairgrounds to be as successful as it has been.

Senator Larry Walker expressed his appreciation for the grounds and explained that support from the legislature was easily gathered. “I’m just excited to see activities on the ground. I appreciate all the sacrifices the staff has made and the hard work and decisions the board has made to get us to this point. I was literally concerned that the gates would be shut on this place at one point in time. Y’all have great goodwill throughout the legislature and throughout the state. People recognize the value of this place and the importance to our young folks and our ag economy, so it wasn’t a hard sell to get some help.”

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