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Larger fairs or the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts may be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is traditionally held. In North America, a fair is sometimes called a carnival or exhibition, although in Europe and other parts of the world influenced by the Catholic church, a carnival is a procession usually held around Shrove Tuesday which is sometimes accompanied by a funfair. One strand of the medieval fair has diverged to become the agricultural show which often still has a funfair attached. Increasingly, funfairs are appearing as additional attractions alongside any large gatherings of people such as major sporting events, music festivals, and civic celebrations. OrganizationIn Great Britain and much of Europe, individual rides and stalls are run by different, independent showmen who all converge for the duration of the fair, then go their separate ways to set up at fairs in other towns. In the United States, regional companies own large and sometimes overburdening investments in rides and games. They book schedules of fairs with multiple units of machinery and staff on the road throughout a lengthy season that runs from mid-February through December, typically beginning in the southern U.S. and traveling north as summer approaches, then becoming active again in the south with the arrival of cooler fall weather. The relative costs and profitability of such long-distance operations are largely impacted by gasoline prices; when prices are unusually high, smaller operators often resort to spending long stretches in shopping-mall parking lots, drumming up what business they can as they wait to accumulate additional funds or for prices to fall. At most county and state fairs in the US, you will find a lot of food/games/rides at these fairs compared to just an ordinary carnival at a school carnival. Not only that, but the carnivals might combine with each other at these types of fairs. For instance 2 names such as Fantasy Amusements, and Windy City Amusements might combine all the rides they own, and put them up at at the County, or State Fair.
AttractionsA fair contains a mixture of attractions which can be divided into the categories of adult or thrill rides, children's rides, sideshows and sidestalls. Originally a fair would also have had a significant number of market stalls, but today this is rare and most sidestalls only offer food or games.
Thrill ridesThere is a core set of thrill rides which most funfairs have, including the merry-go-round (gallopers in Britain, carousel in North America), bumper cars (dodgems), the ferris wheel, and the waltzer. However there is constant innovation, with new variations on ways to spin and throw passengers around appearing in an effort to keep attracting customers. Nevertheless, with the requirement that all rides can be packed up into one or more trailers for travelling, there is a limit to the size of the rides, and funfairs struggle to compete with the much larger attractions such as roller coasters found in amusement parks.
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