Thanks to favorable weather conditions and some heavy hitting entertainment for Thursday and Friday, attendance was up at the Topsham Fair last week.

“We were way, way up,” said Marilyn Hunter, the fair’s director of entertainment and marketing. “We’ve had an amazing year.”

The total number of people who pass through the gates at the fair is hard to get a finger on, but the average is 22,000 to 24,000 people each fair week. The latest fair, which ran from Aug. 4 through 9 with harness racing Aug. 2 and 3, drew around 27,000 people, Hunter said.

Of course it was a nice week, weather-wise — not too hot and not too cold. Fair organizers will tell you that a hot day can kill attendance as much as rain.

“The weather was really on our side. (At) 75 and not humid, you can’t ask for better fair weather,” Hunter said.

The fair has come a long way since Hunter began working there 10 years ago when it was in debt, she said. The fair association did what it could with what it had, paid off the debt and worked on increasing attendance. It has built new buildings and installed new exhibits such as the wagon museum and 4H building.

“We’ve definitely made some investments and improvements,” she said.

A big entertainment investment made this year was bringing in Rettew Motorsports and their monster truck show to the fair, which was a big draw that made Thursday and Friday night “way more busy,” Hunter said.

Hunter said there was concern that a busy Thursday and Friday might draw away from Saturday, but that was not the case and crowds packed the grandstand, raceway and bleachers to watch the always popular demolition derby.

Sunday was children’s day and had an amazing crowd too, Hunter said.

“The demolition derby is hard to beat, and fireworks,” said fair president Leon Brillant. The fireworks show is expensive but it draws a crowd as well. The demolition derby over the course of two decades still seems to grow every year.

Admission included rides and was $10 each day, except for Friday and Saturday where there was a $12 admission fee.

Brillant said the single admission fee with rides included makes it affordable for families who at other fairs may pay an $8 admission fee and $18 for a ride bracelet. It offers all day entertainment for less than it costs to go to the movies, he said. The fair hires Rockwell Amusements, which he said is great to work with and invests in their equipment.

The fair also works with local nonprofit organizations, letting them use the building or grounds in exchange for help parking cars or cleaning the grounds, Brillant said, adding, “We’ve all got to work together.”

He added, “I want to thank all the volunteers who helped us.”

What people don’t realize, Brillant said, is aside from the fair all the work that goes into preparing for and cleaning up after the fair. Volunteers spend a week setting up for the fair and the week after cleaning up and getting ready for the Maine Highland Games which will take place at the fairgrounds on Saturday (http://mainehighlandgames.org).

With another fair under the belt, it’s time to start planning for next year already. People have asked to bring the monster trucks back, for example, a decision that can’t be made until after Topsham Fair Association officers are elected in early December.

Brillant said the public is welcome to attend the fair association meetings which will likely meet every other Monday until early January when it will be every Monday. People can contact him with their ideas about the fair at (207) 798-0892. Or visit www.topshamfair.net.