The 158th Great Allentown Fair came to a close Monday.

FROM THE MORNING CALL

After days of mooing, oinking and chirping, the 158th Great Allentown Fair wrapped up Monday with some banging, crashing and smashing.

Fans started lining up for The J & J Demolition Derby about three hours before it started as attendance at the fair's final day helped make up for a slow start.

The fair, which began last Tuesday, saw attendance slipping from last year through its first four days, marketing director Bonnie Brosious said. But then, on Saturday, came the highlight of the fair: "The double wonder of weather and Justin Bieber."

The seats in the grandstands were packed with Bieber-loving girls, and the seats at the carnival attractions were full of thrill-seeking riders. While Brosious has no official numbers, she believes Saturday's attendance was one of the highest the fair has ever seen. And the combination of Biebermania and sunny, yet breezy, weather helped turn around a slow start and the put the fair slightly ahead of last year's gate attendance, she said, though official numbers have yet to be determined.



In Brosious' mind the 158th fair will be remembered as a fair that saw some changes. The location of the pig racing was moved, the start time was pushed back an hour and the carnival was moved closer to the main entrance.

But for the average fairgoer it was business as usual.

Bethlehem's Bob Ritter has been going to the fair with his brothers for almost 80 years, he said. If there was anything that stuck out to him about this year it was the Big Cat Encounter show, which features lions, tigers and even a liger.

And Sandy Ritter, who's married to Bob's brother, Ken, was surprised only by the pretzel dog her granddaughter had.

"I never had a pretzel dog," she said.

But the Ritters do realize the fair has changed over the years. They remember the days when $5 parking was considered a rip-off and when the carnival area wasn't a place you wanted to leave your kids by themselves.

Some things never change though: food, animals and quality entertainment. Those keep the Ritter siblings coming back.

"I like everything about the fair," Bob Ritter said as he waited for the Lehigh Valley Cloggers performance to begin.

They're the same elements mentioned by the Smith siblings — Megan, 16; Molly, 14; and Matt, 9.

"Everything is so fun," Molly said as she admired a baby bunny

While Brosious is glad everyone's happy, she hasn't had much time to enjoy the fair. She's already planning for next year and trying to find a way to book another set of grandstand concerts as successful as this year's.

With Justin Bieber, Keith Urban, Rush and Weezer, to name a few, the grandstand sales appear to be ahead of last year's, Brosious said.

And Urban and Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo both went into the crowd, something Brosious thinks is greater than any light show or special affect, especially when it's at the fair.

"It's like you're playing people's living room," she said.

As far as who is coming to your living room next year, Brosious can't tip her hand.

But that doesn't mean the Smith family can't hope for Lady Gaga, Usher and Bret Michaels.

"Oh, I hope so," Brosious said Monday afternoon.

Until then, she was just hoping to maybe get out and see that liger she booked.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-allentown-fair-last-day-20100906,0,6301827.story