Minnesota State Fair attendance breaks day 2 record Friday after slow day 1 start
People walk the fairground on Sunday morning on day 3 of the Minnesota State Fair, Aug. 27, 2023. (KSTP-TV)
Friday saw a total of 164,741 people at the Minnesota State Fair, breaking a day-two attendance record that was set in 2019.
The jump in fair-goers this year comes after a sluggish day-one start that saw only 106,327 in attendance, significantly below 2022’s first-day attendance of 121,478. It was the second-lowest first-day turnout at the Minnesota State Fair, with 2021 seeing a mere 61,983 coming out for the opening day, according to the fair’s website.
RELATED: More than 106,000 visitors attended day 1 of the Minnesota State Fair
The highest first-day attendance recorded was in 2019 at 133,326 visitors, according to the Minnesota State Fair. The second Saturday of the 2018 Minnesota State Fair was the highest single-day attendance ever, with 270,789 people making their way to the fairgrounds.
See the chart below of daily Minnesota State Fair attendance since 2017:
The Minnesota State Fair was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.