Scottsdale Fair & Festival — Local services in Scottsdale

I go to several fairs a year. The proprietor of this event spent all week trying to improve things for the guests and the workers. Many have complained about the vendor row as being an issue. Many fairs have loss vendors due to lack of support. Then when they aren't there people ask why isn't there any vendors. I came down from South Dakota to work this fair with the excitement of meeting fun people of Phoenix. A lot of the guest were nice but didn't give a chance to even see what was being displayed. I honestly stopped pushing to speak to the guest because they actually ignored the vendors who honestly are just doing their jobs. This was the first year for this event and there will changes to hopefully make things a bit better. But way more people were happy than sad. I will be very transparent with you all. Several booths you seen are great people. Some actually make their own stuff to show. But this is their job and many are a few thousand in the red because people didn't even stop and show some interest. The freeze dried candy man cut his prices below half and still was looked at crazy. He has a great product he actually makes himself. Bags it and sells it. This was his first fair and I know he had a reasonable cost to his product. The Jerky boys too. If they don't speak to you and encourage you to stop. People will just blow by them. So sorry if you felt any kind of way to the workers speaking out to you. But honestly, If you all just stopped and met these people you'd be surprised on how nice they are and how good their stuff is. Again, I drove 32 hours to come here and the fair guys were awesome. The guest need to appreciate the work they do for a safe fun and a variety of things to see and do. Nothing will please everyone. But do look at the small things that were an issue. I stopped trying the 4th day and loss a lot of money. But it was easier than being ignored and felt like we were a burden. Next stop for me OHIO. Great job fair owner and staff. You showed you cared for the guest and the vendors. Most fairs we don't even see the fair...

This place was tragic. If I could give it zero stars, I would. I never expect a fair/carnival to be cheap, but this was insane. Besides the admission (I went with two kids) and parking to just get in, all of the games were a minimum of $10. That’s $10 for just one try at something, and that got you a little crappy toy if you “won”. The larger prizes cost much much more. The one employee actually tried to argue with an 8 year old about a prize and said that the ring wasn’t over the ducks neck completely. Are you serious!?!?!?

For the rides, we got a BOGO for unlimited rides which was the only saving grace of the day because that ended up being worth it since the kids did their favorite rides over and over. However, not a single employee spoke a lick of english, so when the kids are telling them something about their seatbelts for safety, they were clueless.

Let’s talk food. In my experience, even though I already expect it to be overpriced, fairs usually have decent food. Not the case at all here. We ordered some sliders and chicken fingers with fries that cost $60, yes that’s $60, and they tasted like they were 5 day old leftovers. They weren’t even hot when they were served. For dessert, we were interested in getting a churro till I found out that it was $15.

The setup was also interesting where they made you go through all of the vendors/sponsors as you enter and also exit, so each person there is hounding you for your attention and trying to make a sales pitch. Sorry but not interested in that.

It was my first time at this event and never knew this it even existed at west world till I saw a billboard. If it’s an annual thing, I don’t ever plan on going back. I expected better from the city of Scottsdale. Chalk this one...

My family and I had an amazing time. You have choices on food and everyone sells lemonade. There’s a water slide ride, bird show, horse trick show, seal show, unicycle show and the circus. Lol. All included in just being there. Nice staff at the rides even though no one spoke English and food crew were nice. Admission is $20/adult and $10/child. $10 cash to park $12 if card is used. Find close parking cause if not you’ll have to walk far. The Ferris wheel was a bit crazy asking for $50 but it’s for 3 people. Lol. But overall great time and I’d come back next year. This is Scottsdale city fair first year so I did not expect it to be a lot or well put together because nothing is well put together the first time around.

What I did not expect is to immediately walk into the fair and see vendors before I got to the rides and food. I did not like the fact that every other booth was yelling at me trying to get me to try their product or purchase their product no is no and if I change my mind on my way back out then great. Some vendors were even unprofessional playing football in the walkway where us customers are supposed to walk and feel safe. The professionalism of some of the vendors was not OK. I really hope that the people that run this fair is watching and keeping notes of the vendors that are not being professional. It really does bring down the value of what they are trying to bring to Scottsdale. I hope next year when they have another city fair that the vendors are mixed in with the fair and not the very first thing that I see when I walk in.

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