
First day attendance figure hints at huge year for Minnesota State Fair
The first day attendance figures for the 2022 Minnesota State Fair are out, and it hints at a big year for the Great Minnesota Get-Together after two pandemic-hit ones.
The Minnesota State Fair confirmed that 121,478 visitors passed through its gates on opening day – almost double the 61,983 who attended on the first day in 2021.
It's not a State Fair record – that was 133,326 set in the record-breaking 2019.
However, the fact that it's relatively close to the all-time record suggests that this year's fair could be bigger than organizers expected.
Last year, 1.3 million attended as fears over COVID-19 were still rife. This marked a significant dip on the record-breaking 2019 that was attended by 2.1 million people (it was canceled in 2020).
Fair organizers have said they expect 1.7 million to attend this year with concern about COVID still an issue, but the opening day figures – and the traffic gridlock seen on Friday morning around the fairgrounds – are an indication that the fair could be on the way to exceeding that expectation.
The weather forecast looks good too. While rain is forecast early Saturday morning and late Sunday evening, the next week is otherwise sunny.
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