Northwest Montana Fair officials are still crunching numbers, but it looks as though attendance at this year’s fair was up 4 or 5 percent over 2011.

Fairgrounds Manager Mark Campbell said it will be midweek before all the final figures are in. He based his early report on ticket sales for the concerts, rodeo and demolition derby, along with information passed along by food vendors and other fair venues.

Last year, fair officials counted 78,508 people attending the five-day annual event.

Campbell met with the Flathead County commissioners on Monday to go over numbers for the big-ticket events, namely the Rodney Atkins concert and the PRCA rodeo.

Attendance at the Atkins concert was 2,994, which set an attendance record, trumping last year’s record-setting Little Big Town show by 42 concert-goers.

While the Atkins concert exceeded the fair’s budget expectation, Tuesday night’s Spirit Fest that featured Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman lost money. Spirit Fest attendance was 1,375; that’s down from last year’s Tuesday night Newsboys Christian concert that attracted 1,558 fans.

“It’s about a wash” financially, Campbell said. “We use the concerts to drive excitement for the fair, and we had a lot of positive buzz.”

Attendance at the Thursday and Saturday rodeo performances was up roughly 5 percent, though Friday night’s rodeo attendance dipped about 4 percent, Campbell told the commissioners. He’s double-checking the Friday figures for his final report.

A total of 10,404 people attended the three nights of rodeo action, with a huge crowd of 4,321 on Saturday night.

Campbell said there were comments from some rodeo fans about the low number of bull riders. Only two bull riders competed at Saturday’s rodeo.

Having high quality livestock from the Kesler Rodeo Co. for the rough stock contestants actually becomes an “Achilles’ heel” for the Northwest Montana Fair, Campbell said.

Contestants who study the stock available for bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding routinely draw their livestock picks for several rodeos scheduled for the same days and then will take the pick where they stand to make the most money. A rider loses only the $25 fee to withdraw, Campbell said.

“It’s our challenge,” he said, but added that having quality stock tends to pay off in the long run because many cowboys are looking for that excellence and consistency.

Bobby Mote, who’s ranked seventh in the world in bareback, made a point of commenting in Friday’s Inter Lake that he appreciates the quality of horses at the Northwest Montana Fair.

“There’s some rodeos that even add a little more money this week that I don’t enter so I can come here,” Mote said. “My odds of getting on a good horse are so much better here.”

The fair flourished this year despite the absence of horse racing.

“From an operational standpoint, it’s much easier” without racing, Campbell said, noting the complexity of weaving the racing venue into the fair. “We missed the guests, though, and the pageantry.”

Draft-horse demonstrations helped fill the void left by horse racing and was “good entertainment,” Campbell said.

The carnival’s gross sales through Saturday night showed an increase of about $7,000 from last year.

Sunday figures will be included in the final report. The fair split Inland Empire Shows’ carnival rides this year for the first time, locating rides for the younger children on the north end of the fairgrounds. Campbell said the public seemed to like the new configuration, and it gave the carnival a bigger space to display its games and venues.

The demolition derby brought in 2,322 spectators. Attendance at that event has decreased through the years.

In 2009, derby attendance was 4,135. Campbell said it’s becoming more of a challenge for drivers to find the older cars that hold up better for the crash competition.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.