Printer Friendly Version - Entertainment for the Guilford Fair Lining Up

Members of the Guilford Foundation present a donation to members of the Guilford Agricultural Society for entertainment at the Guilford Fair. From left to right: Liza Petra, Dan Fisher, Amy Earls, Helen Rizzo, Steve Renchy, Kim Brockett, Barbara Hammarlund, and Patty Bohan. Photo by Zoe Roos/The Courier

With the Guilford Fair less than three months away, the community is hard at work to pull together an impressive entertainment line up for this year. Last week those efforts received a financial boost after the Guilford Foundation stepped forward as a lead entertainment sponsor.

On July 7 the Guilford Foundation presented the Guilford Agricultural Society (GAS) with a check for $2,500 to help cover the cost of the some of the big names the society will be bringing into town this year.

The entertainment line-up this year for the fair, which will be held Friday to Sunday, Sept. 16, 17, and 18, will include The Ultimate Billy Joel Experience, Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot, Nashville recording artists Nashville Drive, and, in his first local appearance since his May 1, 2015 concert in front of 10,000 fans on the Guilford Green, American Idol winner Nick Fradiani, Jr.

GAS Entertainment Coordinator Steve Renchy said they started planning back in January and are excited to bring these big names to town.

“We make a list of people/groups we are interested in and begin negotiations with them,” he said. “Most big name artists/bands have agents, so there is a lot of back and forth communications. We try to have all entertainment locked in by late April, early May.”

While the entertainment does draw big crowds, it also comes with a big price tag.

“Our entertainment budget each year is $50,000,” he said. “That includes the circus, petting zoo, comedian/magician and the live music for all three days. Because of the big name musical shows this year, we have gone over our budget by approximately $20,000.”

The society has currently raised about $5,000 and is seeking sponsorships to help cover the rest. That is where the Guilford Foundation came in, according to Guilford Foundation Executive Director Liza Petra.

“The Guilford Foundation has a permanent legacy fund that is designated for the Guilford Agricultural Society, so every year we provide a designated stream of income to them, about $2,000... but this was a special opportunity that we became aware of,” she said

Petra said they were pleased to be able to support the entertainment component as well as the fair as a whole.

“It is such an important part of the town in our roots so we were really excited to be able to have a special opportunity to support it in a significant way and then to have our gift hopefully encourage others to support this event because it is not an inexpensive feat to bring these big names into the community,” she said. “We are really happy to be a lead sponsorship.”

Renchy said they will continue to look for sponsorships as the fair grows closer.

“We are reaching out to Rotary and a couple other organizations and we will see where we are,” he said.

To learn more about the fair (including sponsorship opportunities), visit guilfordfair.org.