MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Wisconsin State Fair sets modern attendance record drawing more than 1 million for seventh straight year

Bill Glauber
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

And the blue ribbon for attendance goes to the Wisconsin State Fair.

Organizers of the 11-day celebration of Wisconsin said Tuesday that 1.1 million people visited this year's fair, setting a modern-day attendance mark.

In all, 1,130,575 people streamed through the gates at State Fair Park, the seventh straight year attendance topped the 1 million barrier.

According to a news release, "the only fair in the 168-year history of the event reporting higher attendance than 2019 was in 1948 when the fair was 23 days long in celebration of Wisconsin’s Centennial."

That year, the fair drew 1.78 million with average daily attendance of 77,688.

By comparison, this year's event had average daily attendance of 102,779, with five daily attendance records.

Prior to 2002, attendance was estimated. Now, attendance figures are compiled from tickets scanned at the gates.

"The Wisconsin State Fair has long been considered one of the top 10 fairs in the country and achieving this record number puts us in the top five in terms of attendance," Kathleen O’Leary, chief executive officer of Wisconsin State Fair Park, said in a statement.

John Yingling, chairman of the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board, said: "We are aware that great weather helped us reach record-breaking attendance, but beautiful weather does not necessarily mean people want to attend your event. There are many things to enjoy on a beautiful summer day in Wisconsin, and the fact that more than 1 million people again chose to spend their time at the Wisconsin State Fair is a testament to the quality of the event and the memorable experiences that our visitors have each year."

The State Fair released some big numbers on the event: More than 10,000 animals were entered in competitions and nearly 20,000 competitive exhibit entries were judged.

People liked to ride stuff: More than 120,000 trips on the Giant Slide and 115,000 on the Sky Glider.

The Wisconsin Bakers Association sold more than 400,000 cream puffs.

There was an epic food count from the Wisconsin Products Pavilion: Patrons devoured more than 60,000 grilled cheese sandwiches, 41,000 baked potatoes, 14,000 ribeye sandwiches and 20,000 pork chop sandwiches.

Fairgoers donated more than 106,000 pounds of food and $18,000 in cash during Wells Fargo $2 Day to benefit Hunger Task Force.

The Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction raised $255,850 and the Governor's Blue Ribbon Meat Products Auction raised nearly $100,000.

The next edition of the State Fair will be held Aug. 6-16, 2020.