GJCF concerts go off without hitch

     Heat and rain seemed to be the theme at the 2017 Great Jones County Fair in Monticello; however, four nights of outstanding music brought in crowds of people.

     “We didn’t dodge a bullet,” said GJCF Manager John Harms, “we dodge bullets.”

     The GJCF is known as the “Best Five Days of Summer.” Rain was forecasted for pretty much every day of the fair this year.

     While the rain caused several event cancelations during the day, Harms said they were very fortunate to be able to kick off every concert on time, without delays.

     “The entertainment was understanding of the potential for bad weather,” he said.

     Just a few hours before the Friday night show with Big & Rich opening for Thomas Rhett, the fair sent out a social media message stating: “We are going to have a concert. Both Thomas Rhett and Big & Rich have said they will stay as late as necessary. Could be a delay. Will try to keep you updated as best we can.”

     At this time, the radar showed two storm cells just north and south of Monticello.

     As luck would have it, both storms stayed away from Monticello, allowing that night’s concert to go off without any delays.

     “We keep the safety of our artists and people here in mind,” Harms said of making weather-related decisions.

     Unfortunately, cancelation decisions were made during the week when it came to four popular fair events: harness racing, the motocross, the evening truck and tractor pull, and stock car races.

     “I feel bad we lost the evening NTPA event,” Harms said of the Wednesday night pulling event. The upside, the afternoon tractor pull was successfully held, satisfying some fans.

     “The ground crew tried and got delayed enough to call it,” Harms explained of getting the track in shape for the NTPA event. “It kept going back and forth and was late enough that we had to make a decision.”

     The motocross that’s held during Sneak-A-Peak night, Tuesday was able to get four classes in before pouring rain ended the competitions.

     “Some had their appetite stimulated but that was it,” said Harms of the short-run.

     Before 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 20, the harness racing event was called off due to the wet condition of the track from the rain the evening before.

     “We had to call that early enough because we had people traveling quite a distance to get here,” explained Harms.

     While the stock car races bring in big numbers of fairgoers, again, the condition of the track played a role in the cancelation.

     “We had the best track preparation going into this fair than we’ve ever had,” remarked Harms of the prep work done.

     He it was a difficult, but collective decision to cancel the races.

     “When you think through all of the scenarios,” said Harms, “so much goes into making the call.”

     He said even if the track were in decent shape by 11 a.m. when the races were set to begin, infield work also had to be done to get the trucks and trailers in and out safely without getting stuck in the mud.

     “The pit area was our real concern,” said Harms. He said the ground was just too soft for heavy equipment.

     If they had delayed the races, everything would have to be off the track by 3 p.m. to start getting the concert stage prepped.

     “There are so many hidden things being done here that people just don’t understand,” said Harms of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the GJCF every year.

     Harms felt that overall attendance at the fair was “a little stronger than last year,” but no definite numbers until the fair board looks at the reports. However, the weather did negatively impact the numbers.

     Harms said Thursday night with Nickelback was the biggest Thursday crowd in a number of years. Saturday with Keith Urban drew the biggest crowd, but both Friday and Saturday were sell-out nights.

     The ability to announce four entertainment acts for 2018 is a year-long process, if not more. The GJCF has been working with Variety Attractions out of Ohio for almost 50 years.

     “They are highly respected,” Harms said.

     He said it’s because of this long-standing partnership that the GJCF is able to get the big names on stage in Monticello, Iowa.

     Routing and the early acceptance of offers also play a role, with everything falling in place to announce early.

     “Some offers have been in place for half a year or more,” said Harms.

     For 2018, the acts will include: Jason Aldean July 19, Kid Rock July 20, Luke Bryan July 21, and Casting Crowns July 22. Three of the four are returning acts.

     “This is the first time we’ve ever been able to announce four acts before,” said Harms of the luck and persistence it took to pull it off a whole year in advance.

     Ticket information for 2018 has yet to be released. Visit www.greatjonescountyfair.com for the latest details.