State Fair sets daily attendance record for fourth time this year

For a fourth time this year, the Minnesota State Fair set a record for daily attendance Friday when 225,521 people visited the fairgrounds.

That’s about 15,700 more people than attended the fair on the same Friday in 2019, when 209,789 fair visitors set the previous record, State Fair officials reported.

The fair bounced back Friday from the day before, which saw significantly lower attendance due to the storms that swept through the Twin Cities. There were 81,231 people at the fair Thursday, this year’s second-lowest daily attendance following the 80,546 who went to the fair on Monday, when muggy temperatures and stormy weather kept numbers down.

The other days that set records this year for daily attendance were opening day, which had 138,875 visitors; Friday, Aug. 23, with 171,233; and Wednesday, Aug. 28, with 145,531.

About 840,000 more visitors are needed in the fair’s final three days to set a new overall attendance record and topple the mark of 2,126,551 set in 2019.

According to media reports, Gov. Tim Walz plans to stop at the State Fair on Sunday. Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, announced the fair visit while campaigning Friday in Virginia. The governor has made yearly fair stops in the past.

More information on State Fair attendance numbers can be found online at mnstatefair.org/about-the-fair/attendance/.