Music

Minnesota State Fair tops attendance record with 1,943,719

By Paul Walsh

September 7, 2016 at 1:07AM
Thousands packed the Minnesota State Fair Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Thousands packed the Minnesota State Fair Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Minnesotans — and a few interlopers from beyond the borders of the Land of 10,000 Lakes — attended this year's State Fair in numbers never before achieved.

Fair officials on Tuesday announced a record attendance total of 1,943,719 over the 12-day Great Minnesota Get-Together, which on Monday wrapped up its 157th year. The previous overall attendance record was set in 2014 at 1,824,830.

This year's overall record was fueled by three record days: Day Two, Friday, Aug. 26 (141,023); Day Nine, Friday, Sept. 2 (182,926); and Day 10, Saturday, Sept. 3 (260,374), which goes down as the best-attended day in State Fair history. The previous one-day record was 252,092 in 2014.

Nicole Morgan, of Burnsville, stood on the curb blowing bubbles onto the road for people walking past to enjoy, a tradition she repeats every year at the fair. Four-year-old Josephine Sande of St. Paul leapt in the air to catch some on the last day of the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn. on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2016. Morgan admits some adults don't love her bubble love but she doesn't care. "I just love the smiles I get," said Morgan.
Nicole Morgan, of Burnsville, stood on the curb blowing bubbles onto the road for people walking past to enjoy, a tradition she repeats every year at the fair. Four-year-old Josephine Sande of St. Paul leapt in the air to catch some on the last day of the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn. on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2016. Morgan admits some adults don't love her bubble love but she doesn't care. "I just love the smiles I get," said Morgan. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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