State Fair hits all-time high in attendance

In the weeks leading up to the start of school, the Minn. State Fair served as a gathering place for people all across the state. Jake Lehman, junior, took advantage of all that the fair had to offer, from cookies to concerts.

“My favorite food at the fair would have to be Sweet Martha’s Cookies because they’re a classic,” Lehman said.

This year the State Fair had record attendance, drawing people from all over the Midwest.

Over 1,997,320 fairgoers broke to the all time attendance record of 1,943,719 set previously in 2016. On Sunday, the busiest day of the fair, 242,759 people attended, crushing the record daily attendance of 236,197 for the last Sunday of the fair in 2013.

Despite this increase in attendance, the Minn. State Fair is still ranked second largest state fair in the United States. Minnesota’s WCCO stated that the Texas State Fair is the largest fair in the the country with 2.4 million people, which runs for 24 days as opposed to twelve.

Lehman, who also attended the Usher concert, noticed the excess amount of people.

“It was a great time with my friends, but it was very hard to find space in the crowd,” Lehman said.

Sheridan Pavelka, senior, attended the Hippo Campus concert on Friday, Sep. 1. Right away, the increase in fairgoers was evident, both in crowd size and in temperature.

“It was very crowded, and with so many people there it was really hot. At one point I even lifted someone up to crowd surf,” Pavelka said.