The state's earliest fairs were community booster events. The first was in 1858 in McCamish, a Johnson County community no longer on any map -17 years after an 1841 New York Fair that ultimately fostered fairs across the nation. Coffey County's fair at Burlington, first held in 1860 and re-established in 1881, is the longest continuing fair in Kansas. Successful fairs offer something for everyone, beginning with exhibits for county extension services and 4-H clubs and community merchant support, Ambler says. If you don't have these elements, entertainment may not matter.
Entertainment is part of the mix for success.
Support by church groups and service groups such as Rotary or Lions clubs operating food booths, for example, are essential too. Ambler has charted the more than 130-year history of Kansas fairs, noting increases and decreases in numbers of fair attendance in the state. Her study is organized by fairs held before 1900, 1900-1950, and since 1950. During the war years sometimes no fairs were held. People don't know much about their fairs.