The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition suffered significant cuts in funding and attendance this year.

Read more stories on this subject in our SEWE topic page.NBC News 2 discussed SEWE's nearly 6000-person decline in attendance and the reasons behind its losses:
SEWE said the struggling economy and damp, gray conditions on Saturday helped reduce crowds by approximately 30 percent.

And ABC News 4 is saying that sales didn't fare any better, in part:
Art sales were down 25 percent and refreshment sales were down 40-percent.

That being said, they are still excited about SEWE 2010, but need local community support now more than ever.

And all economic eyes are on the exposition: In previous years the festival has been used as an economic bellwether.