FRANKLIN TWP — Attendance at the 159th Big Butler Fair is expected to have topped 150,000 people.

“It will be the biggest fair ever,” said Ben Roenigk, vice president of the Butler Fair and Agricultural Association, on Saturday.

The fair, which ran June 27 through Saturday, usually averages about 100,000 attendees for its week-plus run.

“We're real proud of it,” Roenigk said.

As usual the fair featured a variety of events at the grandstand, such as tractor pulls, horse pulls and a school bus demolition derby. It also had about 1,000 vendors and 100 carnival rides.

The traditional Fourth of July fireworks were displayed on Friday.

Roenigk said that the excellent weather all week helped attendance. Some of the concerts, such as the Clarks on June 27, Butler native Bret Michaels on Wednesday and the Freedom Fest on Saturday, also helped.

“They just draw all ages,” Roenigk said.

He said that Friday may have been the best day for attendance in the fair's history, with about 15,000 people showing up.

“People just came to see everything,” Roenigk said.

He said organizers had some concerns about parking that day, but he said everything turned out OK.

Dennis Beach, a chain saw carver from Luzerne County who was demonstrating at the fair, said many people came to watch him auction off some of his items, which included animals and benches carved of wood. He said he has been selling at the fair for about 12 years.

“This is one of the bigger ones,” Beach said. “This is one of the nicer ones.”

Roenigk said the fair draws people not only from Butler County, but also from surrounding counties, particularly Allegheny.

“We are Allegheny County's fair. They don't have a fair anymore,” Roenigk said.

Jeremiah Hileman of Leechburg, Armstrong County, came with his wife, Janice, and their 4-year-old daughter, Lacey. This was the first time he came in 10 years.

He wanted to buy a wildlife license plate for his truck, while letting his daughter check out some of the animals being shown.

Phillip Pack and Myriah Lewin came early Saturday from Industry, Beaver County.

“We just came to hang out,” Pack said.

Coming so early, they chose to walk around and look at equipment and animals for a while. Lewin said she was looking forward to riding some rides later.

With the event being so large, Roenigk said planning for next year's event begins as soon as this fair ends. In December, some organizers will attend a national fair convention in Las Vegas, and in January, they will go to a state fair convention in Hersey to see about booking some acts.

“You go out there and you look for new ideas,” Roenigk said,