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State Fair
Andrew Krueger

Minnesota State Fair sets another attendance record

The skyride is silhouette against a blue sky.
The Skyride glides near the Great Big Wheel on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair on Thursday.
Christine T. Nguyen | MPR News

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Two days, two record crowds for the start of the 2019 Minnesota State Fair.

Fair officials reported that Friday's attendance was 157,224 — shattering the previous record of 141,023, set in 2016.

That follows a record opening day on Thursday, when 133,326 people passed through the gates.

Near-perfect weather conditions — no rain, not too hot — have helped boost attendance to start the 2019 fair run.

And the traditional busiest days are yet to come. The first fair weekend - this Saturday and Sunday — has seen crowds surpassing 200,000 each day. (Saturday's attendance figures will be reported Sunday afternoon.)

And the fair's busiest single day was 270,426 people on the Saturday before Labor Day last year.

It's still early in the fair's 12-day run, but the fair is running well ahead of last year's overall attendance record pace. More than 2 million people attended the 2018 fair.