Clark County Fair Manager John Morrison said the fair has continued to see growing success year after year since returning from the pandemic in 2022.
Morrison said early numbers suggest the fair was up in visitation compared to last year, Butler Amusements broke record sales for the carnival and so did food sales. Morrison added that the numbers do not match the percentage of inflation, hinting at a rise in fair visitation.
“I think the fair was very, very satisfying to me,” Morrison said. “I’m very happy with what the fair did this year. I’m happy with how it performed, and obviously, in the seat that I sit in, I need to be happy about the financial responsibility of the fair, but number one, I’m happy that we had a safe fair that was family oriented and provided a lot of quality entertainment and education to just about everybody that walked through those gates.”
In 2022, after two years of no Clark County Fair due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison said fair management was very cautious on what to provide fairgoers, not knowing how the public would react going back into a large gathering environment. Now, in 2025, the fair has regrown steadily to where this year may have been the biggest of them all.
One thing that stood out from the rest of the fair was the fact the Budweiser Clydesdales were making their stop in the Portland Metro area at the same time as the fair. Morrison said the Clydesdales turned out to be a fantastic event for the public.
“I think that it’s something that probably we were the benefactors of just by chance of them being here and being during the fair,” he said. “But it certainly did add to the quality of the 2025 fair.”
Morrison said the Clydesdales weren't even a key to marketing this year’s fair but happened by chance on the timeline of their tour of the west.
“They just happened to hit here at the time, and we were more than happy to take advantage of it,” Morrison said, adding that both parade days at the fairgrounds were packed full of people along the midway.
The other farm animals at the fair remained a huge hit, from regular showings of chickens, rabbits, cows and more to barnyard races and a dozen weeks-old piglets.
On the entertainment side, six of the 10 days turned out to be record-setting for the carnival by Butler Amusements. Butler Amusements has been the carnival provider for the Clark County Fair since 1994, Morrison said.
Morrison said carnival sales exceeded $2 million while food sales exceeded $3 million. The fair also had more commercial vendors than ever before, adding to the fair’s revenue.
Another key part to the fair’s success for others came by way of recruitment as the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington State Patrol and the Hillsboro Police Department each had recruitment booths on site. Morrison said an agency from as far away as Hillsboro may have been a little odd to see, but the reason made sense when considering the large visitation numbers from Oregon residents.
Morrison said the fair also provided 18 scholarships to deserving students who were actively involved in the 2025 Clark County Fair.
“We have a separate scholarship called the Earl Cato Scholarship, who was a longtime fair board member embedded in the agricultural community,” Morrison said. “And that fund supports a scholarship for somebody who’s going to be pursuing agriculture in their education.”
Morrison also highlighted that Riverview Bank established the Pat Shafer Riverview Bank scholarship to honor the former chairman of the fair board. That scholarship focuses on citizenship, community involvement and scholastic achievement.
With an entire calendar ahead until next year’s Clark County Fair, Morrison said the management team has already begun drafting up ideas for 2026.
