Nevada State Fair organizers admit the event hasn’t generated much excitement in years past but promise newer, bigger and better events.

“We’re starting over,” said Mike Clements, chief executive officer of this year’s 130th Nevada State Fair, Aug. 25-29, at the Reno Livestock Events Center.

With a lineup that includes a carnival, motorcycle stunt show, women’s barrel racing, monster trucks, demolition derby, reptile show, showing kids how to make yo-yos and a hands-on science exhibit, organizers are trying to reach a diverse audience.

“There’s not just an agricultural component,” said Steve Schroeder, spokesman for the fair. “There’s also an inner-city component. We can bring in better acts, better revenues and better recognition to our community.”

The three-year plan includes signing on exhibitors and marketing to visitors outside the Truckee Meadows, more 4-H contests and getting volunteers to help out with fund-raisers and at the fair.

“This exhibit hall wasn’t even full of exhibitors,” said Kathy Woodside, of Reno, who went last year.

Woodside, her husband, Fred, and their four kids had lived in Sacramento for 14 years before moving to Reno eight years ago.

The couple had attended many California State Fairs, where their children would show steers, lambs, horses and pigs at 4-H contests.

“We’re aware what a state fair ought to be like,” Fred Woodside said. “There’s no reason the fair couldn’t be better.”

Attendance has been falling in the last couple of years because the same acts were repeated year after year, Clements said.

But with new shows last year that included a dirt bike race, an alligator show, comedians and jugglers, attendance rose by 25 percent, despite two consecutive days of rain that closed the fair early one night.

Amy Nesler, who has attended the fair since she was a child and was last year’s Nevada State Fair Queen, noticed changes in the kinds of shows last year.

“It was more focused to youth experiences and open not to just agriculture,” she said. “It was way more inviting.”

Officials put the cost of staging this year’s fair at $700,000, Clements said. A Feb. 11 fund-raiser, “Carnival of the crab,” raised about $45,000.

Admission fees, concession sales, parking fees, fees charged to businesses putting on specialty acts, sponsors and membership drives will make up the difference. Ticket prices for this year have not been established.

Jody and Joe Coli plan to bring their children, Kristina, 12, and Steven, 11. The kids went for the first time last year.

“Kristina didn’t want to go on the rides, but I went on a lot of rides,” said a wide-eyed Steven as he smiled.

“I want to hold the chicks and the ducks again,” Kristina said.

Their parents say the fair also teaches responsibility.

“Anytime they see young people train and raise animals, they learn that those kids have worked hard to bring up the animals to show them,” Joe Coli said.