2026 Minnesota State Fair Attendance Was Down, But How Does It Compare Historically?
The 2026 Minnesota State Fair wrapped up on Labor Day, as has been the tradition for many (many) years. While this year's fair got off to a historically strong start, final numbers were somewhat disappointing.
The opening day of this year's fair, Thursday, August 27, set an opening day record with 155,185 people going through the gates.
Building on that, day two of the fair brought in nearly 50,000 more people than the first day. Attendance on Friday, August 28, set a second consecutive single-day attendance record, with 204,065 people visiting - the most for the second day of the fair in the event's history.
Then came the weekend.
Saturday saw just shy of 200,000 people, and daily attendance figures hovered between 107,000 and 125,000 from Sunday through Thursday.
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Heading into Labor Day Weekend, attendance ticked back above 150,000 for the final four days, reaching above 200,000 for Saturday and Sunday.
The final figure for the 2026 Minnesota State Fair was 1,923,325 people coming through the gates.
While better than the historically low 2021 fair and the 2022 and 2023 fairs, this year's attendance was down from 2024 and 2025 - and significantly lower than the fair's all-time attendance records.
Speculation about why attendance figures were lower this year than the last two years ranged across a variety of factors.
Looming over this year's fair was news from earlier in the summer about government officials brokering deals with Twin Cities gangs to avoid what has been a trend of fights that have broken out in recent years toward the end of the fair.
In addition, hot and humid weather and the later start date of the fair due to Labor Day being later may have influenced families and their plans to attend. With some area schools getting going prior to Labor Day, this may have changed routines for families that normally attend.
So, how does 2026 compare when looking at the grand scheme of things? Here's how the 2026 Minnesota State Fair's attendance ranks among all of the fairs this century:
Ranking The Most Attended Minnesota State Fairs This Century
Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper