The Santa Barbara County Fair wrapped up this Sunday after drawing thousands of visitors with more than 67 rides, live entertainment and a redesigned fairground layout.
By early Monday morning, the crowds were gone as vendors packed up their booths, loaded trailers, and prepared to head to their next stop on the county fair circuit.
For many vendors, including Fernando Soto of Ferni's Brick Oven Pizza, who has been coming to the Santa Barbara County Fair for six years, life on the road is nothing new, but the costs are rising.
"We have to pay our sales tax, we have to pay the credit card fees and every fee that comes along the way — the parking fees, the hotel fees, because we are constantly on the road. So everything that you can think of, you know, we have to pay for. A lot of people don't take that into account," Soto said. "A lot of people think we're just fair people who charge an overwhelming amount of money for items that would usually cost less somewhere else, but they don't take into account that we have to literally pay all of those surcharges."
For Rick De Leon of E&D Hat Co., this year's Santa Barbara County Fair marked the company's first appearance at the event. Their next stop is the Ventura County Fair, but De Leon says rising fuel prices and travel expenses continue to pressure their business.
"Well, it takes us about a day and a half to set up and a day and a half to break down, and then we have to haul this puppy behind us," Soto said.
Rather than raising prices, De Leon says the business is focusing on selling more products to offset higher operating costs.
"Gas prices are up there, you know. We knew we weren't going to raise the price of our product. We just have to sell more units, that's all. We have to sell more hats to make up the difference," De Leon said.
Despite rising expenses, vendors say they're committed to staying on the fair circuit, hoping strong crowds throughout the summer will help offset the increasing cost of doing business on the road.
"It's something that we have learned to adapt to. We are never on the road this much but overall, it's a great experience," De Leon said.
