Day 8: Minnesota State Fair attendance just over 80K

The second Thursday of the Minnesota State Fair saw the third-lowest attendance of the 2021 fair so far. Just 80,778 people walked through the gates Thursday.

It was nearly half of the attendance on the same day in 2019 when 153,274 people went to the fair.

A day eight attendance record was set in 2018 with 156,764 people fairgoers.

The 2021 Minnesota State Fair has seen significantly lower attendance numbers most days of the fair likely due in part to the ongoing pandemic and multiple rainy days. Thursday’s crowd dealt with wet weather in the evening. The fair didn’t implement any COVID-19 rules to attend this year.