HANCOCK The 65th annual Houghton County Fair did not break any records, but increased daily attendance was up over last year, according to Carol Saari, Houghton County Fair office manager. Exact numbers of attendance for any or all days of the fair were not known yet, Saari said.

“We had four days of sunshine or not raining, and that was probably the biggest factor,” Saari said. “No matter what you do, if the weather doesn’t cooperate, there’s not much you can do.”

In addition to mainstay events, this year’s fair had some new attractions, including a live shark encounter, as well as Action Motor Sports, which consisted of eight remote controlled cars that fair visitors were permitted to operate. The cars were very popular, Saari said, and they will return for next year’s fair.

As in past years, the livestock exhibits were a popular attraction, as was the auction.

“We had a very successful livestock auction. We generated $42,000 at the auction for 37 youth exhibitors,” Saari said.

While the horses were permitted to be trucked in for shows, the horse barn was filled, Saari said.

“The barn wasn’t allowed to empty out until 5 o’clock on Sunday, so anyone who came to the fair saw rabbits, chickens, horses, cattle,” Bonnie VeCaire-Jones, fair board member and secretary said.

The demolition derby enjoyed a great turn-out, as it has in past years as did the ever-popular monster truck event.

“I can’t believe how my sister and I were walking around about 6:30 p.m. before the Monster Trucks, and there was maybe a third of the hill was full of people,” VeCaire-Jones said, “and an hour later, just an hour later, it was wall-to-wall people. I don’t know where they all came from, but they all came out at the last minute, and we had wall-to-wall people.”

The Kivijat Dancers performed Sunday and drew a large crowd.

“I love watching them, VeCaire said, “They’re really neat.”

And as always, the carnival ridesand midway games were a huge draw. Skerbeck Entertainment Group set attendance records, Saari said.