By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — A new rides vendor put fair-goers on Cloud Nine.

This year, the Fryeburg Fair formed a partnership with Dreamland Amusements, out of Long Island, NY. 

People who attended the Fryeburg Fair in 2022 were treated to carnival rides that have never before been on Maine soil. The adult rides, such as the Super Himalaya, the Starship 3000 and the Dream Catcher, proved to be thrilling and heart dropping. 

Meanwhile, Dreamland offered a few services to calm the nerves: People could buy tickets Online prior to arriving; and credit cards were a permissibleform of payment once at the fairgrounds. 

Additionally, the total number of ticket sales at the Fryeburg Fair broke records from past five years by at least 12,000.  

Fair officials were nothing short of delighted with the equipment and the employees at Dreamland Amusements. 

“It was beyond fantastic. Their rides were clean and well-managed,” according to Rachel Andrews Damon, who is in charge of Fryeburg Fair Publicity and Advertising.

“We’ve gotten compliments on how friendly and helpful the Dreamland employees were,” Damon said. 

Parents expressed their pleasure in the improvements in the kiddie rides as well, she said. 

The company “sold ride tickets Online for the first time ever in the history of the fair,” she said. “They also took credit cards for the first time. That was very helpful to fair-goers.”

Dreamland offered one price for unlimited rides during six out of the eight days that the fair was open, Andrews Damon said.

“They had long, long lines at the most popular rides,” she said.

The change in ride vendors had a positive impact on the fair. 

“We’re excited about this change. It will mean bigger and better offerings for our fair-goers. Dreamland has rides that haven’t been seen in Maine before. They will encompassthe same footprint and space as Smokey’s did at Fryeburg Fair. I think it is a great move,” according to David Andrews, Fryeburg Fair’s GeneralSuperintendent. 

Smokey’s Greater Shows was the company that provided rides at the fair for more than 30 years, Andrews Damon said. 

Dreamland Amusements is owned by Bob and Kathy DeStefano, who are longtime professionals in the carnival and amusement business. Dreamland owns 50 rides; and this year it brought 32 rides to the fair in Fryeburg. 

“Fryeburg Fair was Dreamland Amusement’s first time serving a fair in the State of Maine,” Andrews Damon said. “While they own all their rides, they do not own food and concessions, but they book them all as part of their shows. Current concessionairesat the Fryeburg Fair will be booking through Dreamland Amusements going forward and can reach the Dreamland office through their website dreamlandamusements.com.”

The turnout for this year’s fair was spectacular, Andrews Damon said. 

The fair attendance numbers surpassed pre-Covid numbers based on five-years of data.  

“It was better than pre-Covid numbers. It is the best in 5 years,” she said.   

The total number of people to enter the fair by paying admission was 183,000, she said. 

In 2017, five years ago, the fair attendance totaled 170,614 for the entire period it was open. Therefore, this year’s attendance beat that by about more than 12,200

Compared to last year, 17,085 more people paid to enter the fair. Compared to last year, 8,829 more people came to the fair on opening day, which was Oct. 1. 

This year, per usual, Saturday and Friday had the highest attendance with 36,145 people showing up on Saturday and 27,071 making a trip to the fair on Friday. 

This year total of 183,000 does not reflect all the people at the fairgrounds, she said.

“That does not include children under 12, senior citizens on Tuesday, farmers, livestock owners, vendors and fair employees. I would guesstimate that the total is about 225,000 to 250,000 people,” Andrews Damon said.