Courtesy Warren County
Warren County fairgrounds
When Andrew Percetti took over glamping at the Warren County Fairgrounds mid-pandemic last year, he thought he was set. The fan of the high-end camping experience had purchased the business and thought he had years left on the lease to use the county fairgrounds on the Schroon River in Warrensburg.
A few months later, in January, Warren County published a request for proposals asking for new and innovative ways to use the fairgrounds.
“We invite any and all who have ideas for the fairgrounds to step forward and offer them. Let’s think outside the box and have some fun in reimagining this asset,” Warren County Administrator Ryan Moore said in the press release announcing the change.
Percetti grew anxious but went to work re-applying for a slot he thought he had, he said in a recent interview.
In March, the county told him he won the bid and could start to take reservations.
"We're happy to have someone using that fairgrounds,” Supervisor Kevin Geraghty said at the Warrensburg Town Board meeting, Wednesday, adding that the business brings tourists to the area.
In the case of Percetti and Adirondack Safari, glamping, or "glamorous camping," means renting a large, safari-style tent, complete with queen-sized beds, side tables, electric lights, fans and zero-gravity chairs. Outside each tent, campers will find a canopy over the picnic table, a cook stove and a firepit.
“It’s like a little hotel room, outside,” he said. People bring their own clothes and food.
Sunrise yoga, BINGO, daily river tubing and more activities are part of the package. And people can pay for fly fishing lessons and other trips.
New this year: a Sunday farmer’s market so that people have options other than Stewart’s Shops and the Price Chopper grocery store for their food, he said. It was an idea that Percetti said he developed just to sweeten his proposal to the county. The market will be open to campers and the public.
He is working on the permits to allow him to offer hamburgers and hot dogs, he said.
Although he did not give exact numbers, Percetti said the reservations have been solid, though a bit behind what the previous owners told him they had at this time. His website where people can make reservations had 40,000 hits in March when he first started taking the reservations, he said.
“People are frothing at the mouth to get outside,” he said.
Adirondack Safari can take reservations from June until October. Rates run from $149 to $309 per night.
The Warren County Youth Fair, an event of the local 4H, also uses the fairgrounds, traditionally in August, but last year's event was cancelled due to COVID. No word if this year's event is on, said Don Lehman, a spokesman for the county. The fairgrounds cover 11 acres of a 22-acre site.