Sun City Fair setup underway at Ascarate Park

Ascarate Park is preparing for a big event, branded the Sun City Fair.

“We as a company put on fairs and festivals around the county,” said Brian Ellsworth, general manager for Universal Fairs based in Tennessee. “You know, sometimes people call us, say ‘Hey man, we haven’t had an event like a fair or festival in years.'”

Ellsworth is overseeing all the preparation, with Universal Fairs paying El Paso County about $35,000 to put on the event from April 1 – 10. While not the official El Paso County Fair, the Sun City Fair will have rides, musical performers, animal exhibits and fair food favorites.

“I think we’ve done a good job in having a little bit of everything and hopefully it’s received well and people like it and want us back,” Ellsworth said.

The entire event was put together in just a few months, and with an eye to the future as well. Ellsworth said Universal Fairs wants to make this a bigger and more locally-involved yearly event.

“In working with Universal Fairs so far has been an amazing experience,” said Eric Storrie, the county’s director for parks, recreation, tourism and special events. “They are definitely committed to bringing in local vendors and local talent. So as we complete this year’s event, we’ll look to future years to see how we want to partner and how they want to expand and grow.”

As the set up goes on at Ascarate ahead of the opening on Friday, Universal Fairs is shooting for some decent turnout numbers to justify future years.

“Man, somewhere around 60 – 70,000 people come,” Ellsworth said, “I think that’s a realistic goal for the size of this community.”
That’s about 10 percent of El Paso’s population, or the rough equivalent of a sell-out concert a day for ten days at the County Coliseum, which seats 7,000 for concerts.

Universal Fairs feels it’s doable, but like the strength tester set up at the fair, that may be a difficult goal to hit.