Looking at the size of Saturday’s crowds, it’s easy to see why the Minnesota State Fair is setting attendance records.

“It’s a very busy day today,” declares Scott Peterson from Madison, Wisconsin. “I got here at 11 a.m., the streets were packed.”

Fair officials say Friday was a record-breaker, the highest attendance since 2019.

The official number?

225,521 — well above 2019’s record of 209,789.

“It is a positive environment,” says Nick Lewis, from Mankato. “There’s not too many things going wrong anymore, everyone’s happy, and there’s a lot of food and drink. So, what’s wrong with it? You’re going to come out.” 

The vendors are seeing the impact of those big numbers.

Workers at Poncho Dog say they’ve been working non-stop, serving hundreds of trays.

That growth, they note, has continued since the pandemic shutdown.

“We’ve been busy, busy slammed,” exclaims staffer Rhonda Mendonca. “The last year was pretty good, and this year is a lot better. I heard we broke records the first day ‘cos opening day was awesome.”

She’s right.

Fair officials say 138,875 people attended the Thursday opening day — about 5,000 more than in 2019.

Even some normally quiet venues like the Fine Arts Center were busy Saturday.

“During the day it can be pretty active in here as well, but people feel it’s chiller than other areas of the fair,” explains Fine Arts Superintendent Jim Clark. 

For those who needed a respite from those big crowds, we found a few quiet zones to recharge and relax.

The Healing Garden, next to the 4-H Center, has several small waterfalls, flower displays, shaded sitting areas and even a meditation/prayer tent.

“It’s beautiful back here, it’s nice and shaded and quiet,” says Tricia Vanderhoof, visiting from Ramsey with her family. “Get away from the huge crowds for a moment, enjoy the breeze.”

There’s also a garden area outside the horticultural building and a shaded park area and stage near the DNR building.

That is where we found Ruby Davis-Nelson, from Stillwater.

“I feel like it’s go big or go home. It’s definitely good to take breaks so you can spend the whole day here,” she says. “The crowds can be overwhelming when you’re in the middle of them and going to the lines. It’s nice to step away from a second.”

And yes, the Fine Arts Building can be a good place to take one of those breaks.

Clark says there are 333 works on display, from photography to paintings.

Art as crowd therapy.

“For the most part, I would agree this space is fairly chill,” he notes. “The work on display can remind people of spaces that they had good experiences in, or times when they were having good experiences.”

Fair officials say last Monday and Thursday, when severe weather impacted the fairgrounds, attendance numbers dropped to about 80,000 attendees each day.

In a statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, they say weather certainly plays a factor in attendance, but also noted, “We are the Great Minnesota Get-Together and people have traditions they need and love to keep, year after year.”

Mendonca says that’s a good thing.

“Because it’s a nice day, and it’s a good fair,” she declares. “I drive all the way from Oklahoma just to do the fair because Minnesota people are good people.”