Canfield Fair Director George Roman is excited about the technology that is making the fair a smoother operation this year. The fair opens Wednesday.

CANFIELD — The 179th Canfield Fair starts Wednesday, and this year it will be smothered in new technologies. Some programs are a first for the fair.

“This year, we went with all-online registration,” Fair Director George Roman said. “We were online for everyone from vendors to those displaying plants, crafts, artwork and animals.”

He said there was some pushback for the move, but the fairgrounds helped out for those who didn’t have access to a computer.

“Many came to the fair office, and we walked them through registration,” he said.

Roman said that in past years, the fair would be 90% full with less than two weeks to opening day. This year, with all-online registration, the fair is 99% full.

“We are never 100% full as we like to leave that gap, but 99% is higher than usual,” he said.

Fair manager Skye Tancer said the new technologies are making everything smoother.

“The long lines and wait times will be gone this year,” Tancer said. “The vendors have registered and paid in advance, and everything will be smoother.”

Roman said there are vendors who may have family issues and cannot attend. To ensure the space is filled, Roman said there is a long waiting list of potential vendors ready to go.

Another change this year is the switch to fiber optics. He said that in past years, it was a problem for many cellphone users when there were so many in use at the fairgrounds. That should be different this year.

“The fiber optic lines will help improve signals,” Roman said. “The Wi-Fi can now handle the oversaturated capacity.”

Roman said other situations have been considered this year, and the big one is the U.S. 224 Ohio Turnpike bridge replacement. To help traffic flow, a new entrance to the south has been completed and will be in use.

“With the new gate, we can bring in cars from the south and north with separate entrances,” Roman said. “We do ask that everyone be patient with the 224 bridge repair. We’ll get you into the fair.”

Once a vehicle does get into the fair, another new piece of technology will come into play. Roman said fairgoers can load the Canfield Fair app into their phones and can use it to ping their vehicle once it is parked. The app can direct a person right to their vehicle when they leave.

Tancer said there also will be new ticket kiosks at Gates A, C, and 5 where fairgoers can walk up and purchase admissions.

The technology upgrades don’t end with this fair. Down the road, Roman said the ultimate goal is to go cashless.

“It won’t happen in the next year or two, but that is the future,” he said.

He said when that does happen, all the vendors at the fair would be hooked into a network. Sales would go through that network and each vendor would have sales tallied for each day.

“Our biggest problem to make that happen would be getting enough power,” Roman said.