With the prices of food and gas rising across the board, vendors at the Tulsa State Fair are feeling it affect their bottom lines as attendance numbers dwindle.
The first eight days of rides, fair food, music and fun haven’t been the best for Bobby Wiley, owner of Sugar 66. This is his fourth year bringing visitors some of his signature freeze dried candy, but he said this is his worst year attendance-wise.
“I think it’s obvious attendance is down. I would say the younger crowd is still here, but the older crowds down,” Wiley said. “I think they’re being more conservative with their money. (On) weekends you still got your influx, but during the week, this is so slow compared to years past.”
Wiley told The Eagle Thursday he’s short $785 from where he was at the same point during last year’s fair. The fair closes Oct. 11.
“It’s almost $1,000 short …for a small business, $1,000 is a ton of money,” he said.
Wiley isn’t alone in his sentiment. Elijah West and Luke Sanko have been selling turkey legs at Hardenbrooks Concession for 15 and six years respectively. Both said people aren’t coming to the fair as much as they used to.
Sanko said he’s noticed younger kids are still there but fewer adults. With less buying power, the kids are favoring the rides rather than concessions, which could be upward of $23 for a single item.
“(Previous years we’d) have a line from here to the bathrooms, and we don’t even have 10 people in line (now). It’s sad,” West said on a Thursday afternoon. “It’s just bad. There’s no one here.”
West and Sanko told The Eagle the owner of their Hardenbrooks has been reducing the amount of stands he brings over the years. If this is the current trajectory of the fair, then at some point it will be a waste of time for the business to attend, they said.
The Eagle talked to several vendors this week, but not all said it was as bad as some made it out to be.
Doug Ballou, who sells kettle corn, said he expects to make a profit despite the decrease in people. Dennis Haack, owner of Haack’s Concessions, said sometimes fair income depends on where a certain vendor is stationed rather than the overall attendance.
But those who were having a hard time attributed slower traffic to several factors: public scuffles between teenagers, a decrease in the amount of fair rides, kids being in school during the day and weather. The opening days of the 11-day event were rainy and soggy.
Ultimately though, they said pricing was the No. 1 issue.
“I am grateful to be here and be able to sell my product at the Tulsa Fair. But I think … they’re outpricing the common person in that part,” Wiley said. “That’s who enjoys the fair.”
Pricing remained similar this year compared to 2025 as far as entry. A single adult would have to spend nearly $40 to enter after purchasing a $17 ticket and paying $20 for parking, while a family of four would be out $68.
“I would love to go but I have to spend $40 to park and get in … I’ll stay home (and) save my money,” one person wrote underneath a state fair Facebook post.
“Used to enjoy going but with all the fights and $17.00 to get in and the price the (vendors) are charging for food I think I will skip it and I am not alone,” another wrote.
It was a similar story last year. Vendors said fewer people were showing up and believed the cost to attend may have deterred casual fairgoers.
Attendance numbers aren’t released until the end of the fair, but roughly 100,000 fewer people attended in 2025 compared to 2024.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
