More Lincoln, Omaha residents turning out for state fair

Residents of "greater" Nebraska like to complain about the attitude of our friends in Lincoln and Omaha, who seem to think of Grand Island as "out west."

We can only image what they think about traveling to a meeting or hearing in McCook, Scottsbluff or Chadron.

Results of a poll by the Nebraska State Fair were counterintuitive, however, showing that attendance from Lincoln and Omaha actually increased after the fair moved to Grand Island.

According to a survey of nearly 10,800 people, 37 percent of fairgoers were from central Nebraska, which is to be expected. About 10 percent came from Lincoln, however, a 25 percent increase from 2010, and 6 percent came from Omaha, a 41 percent increase.

Yes, it's easy to see big percentage increases when the segments of attendance are as small as 6 and 10 percent, but the trend is certainly positive.

Overall attendance was up about 30,000 people from last year, the fair's first year in Grand Island, when 300,000 people attended.

That's smaller than 2009, the fair's last year in Lincoln before the fairgrounds were claimed for a new University of Nebraska high-tech research park, but it's still one of the largest crowds in recent history.

And it was a happy crowd, 72 percent of the fairgoers saying the 2011 event was "better or much better" than the previous year's fair, according to the Grand Island Independent. More than 94 percent of people polled said they would recommend the fair to others.

We haven't seen any analysis of why the Lincoln and Omaha attendance is up, but we suspect the prospect of a road trip to a state fair at a new park built specifically for that purpose is more exciting than a trip across town to just one more local event.

The state fair took a big risk when it bucked a century of tradition and moved out of Lincoln, but for whatever reason, it is paying off.