News Photo by Reagan Voetberg A Casalino Circus clown performs with hula hoops at the Alpena County Fair on Friday. Fair organizers say attendance to the fair this year has been strong and grandstand events have been popular.

ALPENA — Animal shows, grandstand events, and the carnival all garnered their share of community interest at the Alpena County Fair this year.

Courtney Tauriainen, Alpena County Fair Board president, said that so far, the events at the fair have been well attended.

Two new events were introduced at the fair this year: harness racing and car soccer. Both were well attended, Tauriainen said. Those events will be considered again for next year.

The Twisted P Rodeo was a community favorite, with high attendance both days, according to Tauriainen. She also said the midway has been full, as well.

“A lot of people have been strolling through the carnival,” Tauriainen said.

A majority of people that have strolled through the gate were excited about seeing everything that the fair has to offer, she said. People spent their time at the animal shows as well as the carnival and grandstand events. Most people that came earlier in the day stayed into the evening for the grandstand events, Tauriainen said.

Plans for next year include improvements to make the fair more handicap accessible.

“We have big plans to make the fairgrounds more handicap accessible,” Tauriainen said.

Those plans include laying down asphalt between the grandstand and the track, and purchasing a set of accessible bleachers.

There are still plenty of events to attend through the weekend, with a tractor pull Saturday and a bump and run on Sunday.

“We’re hoping the community enjoys having a few extra events this year,” Tauriainen said. “We’re super excited that the 4-H program has grown,” she added.

Even with the extra events, Tauirainen said that the volunteers and sponsors have kept the fair organized.

“Every night has run smoothly because the volunteers make it run like a well oiled machine,” Taurainen said.