Missouri State Fair

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 utilizing Wade Shows to bring in the fantastic midway that fair attendees look forward to. As the second largest, privately-owned carnival company in the U.S., Wade Shows has seen continued growth over the years, with a record setting season in 2021. There are also approximately 400 vendors and concessionaires to be organized throughout the 11 days of the fair. Wolfe explains, “We have a full-time manager that does that during the fair. He takes care of all the contractual details, and putting everyone in their different locations across the fairgrounds. That office also does the same thing with our vendor buildings. They rent all the booth space.” Employing the services of Etix, a ticket vendor company, for various onsite events, as well as fair admission tickets, has been worthwhile. Mergen conveys, “We’ve been with Etix for three years, and we have a really good relationship with them. Their customer service is great. With more things like contactless ticketing or digital ticketing, we will be working with them more in the future. COVID changed the way that everybody thought about those kinds of things. So, we are looking forward to continuing to work with Etix.” The Missouri State Fair team consists of 23