FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — Another Minnesota State Fair has come and gone, and summer is officially in the rearview mirror. But before we fully commit to all things fall, there's one more bit of unfinished fair business to attend to.
The final 2023 attendance numbers.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, the Minnesota State Fair revealed that a total of 1,835,826 people attended this year's Great Minnesota Get-Together. According to state fair attendance records, that's more than 6,000 fewer attendees than in 2022, which had 1,842,222 people pass through the fair gates over 12 days.
The all-time total attendance record came in 2019, with 2,126,551 people visiting the Minnesota State Fair.
Still, 2023 will go down as the sixth-best attended fair thus far. Getting more than 1.8 million people to the fairgrounds is no small feat, made even more impressive by the fact so many people came out to the fairgrounds despite a stretch of sweltering heat. On Friday, Aug. 25, temperatures broke 90 degrees, making it the hottest day at the fair since 2013.
This Labor Day (the last day of the fair) broke the record for hottest Labor Day at 98 degrees. The previous record was 97 degrees on Sept. 1, 1913.
Here's how the attendance numbers shook out on each day of the 2023 Great Minnesota Get-Together:
- Thursday, Aug. 24: 106,327
- Friday, Aug. 25: 164,741 (New attendance record)
- Saturday, Aug. 26: 212,850
- Sunday, Aug. 27: 173,724
- Monday, Aug. 28: 134,146
- Tuesday, Aug. 29: 134,952
- Wednesday, Aug. 30: 128,068
- Thursday, Aug. 31: 129,501
- Friday, Sept. 1: 190,290
- Saturday, Sept. 2: 200,170
- Sunday, Sept. 3: 141,326
- Monday, Sept. 4: 119,731
Despite fair attendance being down from 2022, Metro Transit reported its ridership went up 33% from last year during the State Fair. The public transportation provider attributed the increase largely in part to the opening of a new Express Bus Park & Ride location in Blaine.
In a statement Tuesday, Metro Transit said its State Fair Express Buses gave around 241,000 rides to and from the fairgrounds.
"We are thrilled we could expand our State Fair Express Bus service this year, allowing more people to make Metro Transit a part of their fair experience,” said Metro Transit general manager Lesley Kandaras said.
Metro Transit officials say planning for next year's fair is already underway.
Watch more from the 2023 Minnesota State Fair:
Check out all of KARE 11's coverage of the State Fair in our YouTube playlist:
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