Pleasanton, CA (July 20, 2011) – ExtremeTix, a leader in ticketing technology and entertainment services, today announced record-breaking attendance at one of their premier clients’ events: The Alameda County Fair.

Exactly 452,746 fairgoers celebrated “99 Ways to Come Out and Play!” at this year’s historical 99th Alameda County Fair. Setting a new attendance record, this number represents an approximate 8% increase over 2010, and is the largest recorded attendance in the last 20 years according to Alameda County officials. The previous attendance record was set in 2009 with 434,919 people in attendance. The Alameda County Fair is ranked as the 41st largest fair in the nation and the largest event in the East Bay Area.

ExtremeTix provided an integrated suite of online, box office and phone tickets along with custom stock for this year’s Fair.

“We’re thrilled to be involved with such a prestigious event with a storied past and a bright future,” said Charly Garrett, president of ExtremeTix. “We look forward to many years of family fun to come and bringing more people into the Fairgrounds to enjoy these wonderful facilities.”

Alameda County Fair officials are extremely pleased with their dramatic attendance increase in 2011. Additionally, the special promotions that included 99¢ Wacky Wednesdays, 99¢ Carnival Ride Day, 99¢ Bites of the World’s Largest Hamburger and the Fair’s Food Drive resulted in over $15,000 of food buying power and 26,230 lbs of donated food for the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

“We want to thank the almost half-a-million guests who came out to play at the record breaking Alameda County Fair these past three weeks,” said Rick Pickering, CEO of the Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association. “As a nonprofit organization that receives no tax support, we are pleased to provide our many communities with local affordable edu-tainment. Recognizing this difficult economy, we are honored that so many people chose to invest their time with family and friends at the Fair this summer.”

New attractions and events such as the BBQ County Corral and the World’s Largest Commercially Available Hamburger Record at 777 lbs (awaiting verification by Guinness World Records) played a big part in this year’s success. Concert performances by acts including: The Charlie Daniels Band, Tower of Power, Tenth Avenue North, Blue Oyster Cult, Whispers and Tracy Lawrence were filled to capacity. 

Notable figures include:
  Total Entries of Competitive Exhibits – 16,938 up 1%
  Total Exhibitors – 4,228 down 0.8%
  Jr. Livestock Auction - $567,231 up 12.2%
  Small Animal Sales - $29,484 up 16.8% (record single day sales on July 10)
  Fine Art Sales – $8,815 up 0.8%

Fun food facts:
  Corn Dogs – 91,414 consumed
  Funnel Cakes – 29,834 consumed
  Shaved Ices – 14,963 consumed
  Turkey Legs – 7,559 consumed
  Cinnamon Rolls – 5,297 consumed
  Deep Fried Oreos – 3,791 consumed
  Scorpions – 1,546 consumed
  Alligator – Nearly 500 lbs consumed

Website and Social Media facts:
  Fair website, www.alamedacountyfair.com: 1,114,050 visits from June 10 – July 10
  Facebook Fans – 18,938
 Twitter Followers – 1,118
   (Trended as Top 10 Tweets on Saturday, July 2^nd with World’s Largest Hamburger record attempt)

A complete list of Competitive Entry Winners will be posted on the Fair’s website by month’s end.

Plans are already underway for the 100^th Alameda County Fair in 2012. Organizers look to provide even more family fun and excitement. Conveniently located off of the Bernal Exit from the 680 Highway in Pleasanton, California, the 267 acres of beautifully landscaped, park-like grounds is host to over 3 million visitors, annually.  Events include trade and consumer shows, festivals, corporate picnics, and much more. For more information about the Alameda County Fairgrounds, please visit www.AlamedaCountyFair.com or call 925-426-7600.

About ExtremeTix
ExtremeTix is a leading provider of innovative ticketing solutions and a broad range of event services powered by the Three Zebras Entertainment division. Focused on driving client success, the company boasts the best service and support with no start-up fees. Additionally, ExtremeTix provides clients with intuitive event creation and management dashboards and a full suite of social media and interactive engagement tools. Based in Houston, the company has branch offices in Tampa, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati and New York and services clients across the US and Canada. For more information on the fairs ticketing experts at ExtremeTix, visit extremetix.com.

For additional information, please contact:
ExtremeTix: Deven Nongbri, dnongbri@extremetix.com; 800-370-2364, x323
Alameda Country Fair: April Mitchell, april@alamedacountyfair.com; 925-426-7565