The Delaware State Fair names a familiar face as its new General Manager.
Former Assistant General Manager and Marketing Manager Danny Aguilar takes over the position from Bill DiMondi, who served as GM for 16 years.
Aguilar started at the State Fair in 2007 and says now, as General Manager, he will assume responsibility for the fair's overall management, overseeing various departments such as operations, programming, finance, and public relations.
He says he looks forward to introducing new ideas and concepts while keeping the 105-year-old fair tradition alive.
“I think as we transition and move forward into the future, it’s staying true to our agricultural roots while maintaining new trends and new products, new services, new forms of entertainment, new ways of selling tickets, new ways of reaching folks through social media channels," Aguilar says.
Aguilar says entertainment has become a large part of the fair’s attraction, adding people can expect to see a variety of Grandstand acts.
“Country music is something certainly very prevalent here at the fair and has done very well for us, but trying new forms, bringing in comedians, bringing in cooking shows, bringing in alternative forms of entertainment, classic rock, rock, and still trying to have that blended approach.”
Aguilar says one of his main goals is keeping agricultural traditions alive – noting the fair’s most important function is to educate fairgoers on farming practices in Delaware.
Last year, the Fair received and processed over 35,000 entries for livestock, 4-H, FFA, and other forms of competitive exhibits, originating from 2,689 exhibitors.
And the Junior Livestock Auction grossed record sales proceeds of $293,000 with the sale of 122 market animals.
Fair attendance numbers continue to climb – last year over 300,000 people visited, the fifth largest attendance in history. Aguilar says prices also continue to rise.
“The cost of operations has always been a challenge," Aguilar says. "So maintaining the fair in a very affordable fashion is a priority for the Board of Directors and certainly for myself.”
The 2024 fair runs from July 18th to the 27th.
