County Fair Attendance Up This Year : Events: Mild weather may have contributed to the slight gain. But some food vendors and game booth workers say business was slow.

The most popular attraction at the Ventura County Fair this year was free.

Forget the Ferris wheel, the fireworks and the rodeo. Never mind the livestock auction, the pie-eating contest and the chili cook-off.

Fair officials, carnival workers and fair-goers on closing day Sunday said it was a successful fair this year because the weather cooperated. Ocean breezes and sunshine boosted attendance slightly this year, fair officials said.

“Business-wise, it’s been average,” said Tim Sell, a carny who has worked at fairs throughout the state for 13 years. “As far as location, it’s above average because it’s down by the ocean. There’s a fair going on right now in Sacramento, and it’s over a hundred degrees there.”

Last year, fair attendance dropped about 7%, which fair officials attributed to the cool weather and sluggish economy. This year, attendance has been up an average of about 1%, said fair spokeswoman Teri Raley. Final figures were not available Sunday, but more than 236,000 people had attended the fair through Saturday, Raley said. A total of 267,563 people attended the fair last year.

“I don’t know why we’re doing better this year,” Raley said. “It could be because of the nice weather we’ve been having.”

Ken Kasinak, who has been selling hot dogs and french fries at the fair for about 12 years, said he usually does good business in Ventura County, but even better than the business is the mild weather.

“I’m going to the Bakersfield fair next week,” Kasinak said. “I hate to go from this climate to Bakersfield. You get spoiled here.”

Californians have no idea what great weather they have, said fair-goer Stephanie Towner, who moved to Port Hueneme from south Indiana about a year ago.

“In the Midwest, it’s so hot and humid, you never want to go to the fair,” Towner said. “To go to a fair with palm trees is really an experience.”

Randy Zuckerman, 35, drove his family up from West Los Angeles to get away from the crowds and heat. “This is better than the L. A. County Fair, because it’s cooler and less crowded,” Zuckerman said. “We just got burned out on the L. A. County Fair because it’s so hot.”

Tracy Byrd of Ventura said she came to the fair this year to watch the fireworks. “I haven’t been here in years,” she said.

The nightly fireworks displays were new at the fair this year. In addition, on closing night, thousands crowded into the Grandstand Arena to watch two 50-foot towers spark and light up with pyrotechnic devices.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a castillo ,” said Lucy Rios, 21, of Moorpark. A castillo is a structure made of fireworks that is set off during fiestas in Mexico, Rios said.

Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman estimated that at least 10,000 people watched the spectacle. “We don’t get a crowd like this very often,” he said.

Although attendance at the fair was up this year, business wasn’t better for everyone. On Sunday, Robert Callister was complaining about how slow business has been.

Standing at his empty game booth, Callister whipped out a thin sheaf of bills to show how bad business was going. “Fairs back East are better than fairs in California,” said Callister, who works on commission. “California has been hit pretty good by the recession.”

Vicki Dexter, who sells hot dogs, cotton candy and snow cones, agreed. “I think people brown bag it more.”

Taking a ride on the Ferris wheel still is a fair tradition, although it costs $3 at the single-ticket rate.

Tim Stabile, a temporary carnival worker from Ventura, said, “We have about 10,000 people a day ride the Ferris wheel. We’re the best ride in the park.”

Officials credited part of the fair’s success to the new carnival company, Ray Cammack Shows of Phoenix, Ariz.

The midway--with better lighting and wider aisles than in previous years--helped law enforcement efforts, police said.

“It’s been really quiet this year,” Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman. “The gang attire policy and the gang probation helped a lot.”

Some gang members on probation were prohibited from going to the fair after 8 p.m. and others were banned altogether, Bowman said. Police also did not allow anyone wearing gang attire to enter the fair.

According to Bowman, the only gang-related incident at the fair was so minor that police officers did not take a report. A few gang members began fighting on Main Street and police quickly escorted them out, Bowman said.

As of Sunday afternoon, police had arrested 16 people since the fair began, Bowman said. Twelve of the 16 arrests were for minor offenses such as curfew or probation violations and public drunkenness, Bowman said. The other four arrests involved an attempted theft, illegal weapons and being under the influence of drugs, Bowman said.

“It’s been a boring fair,” Bowman said. “We like it that way.”