Minnesota State Fair attendance rebounds following heat, storms

Storm damage delays MN fairgrounds opening

Another round of severe storms on Tuesday morning packed a punch in the Twin Cities metro with strong winds and heavy rain. Minnesota State Fair officials delayed opening the fairgrounds on Tuesday morning to assess the damage and clean up debris.

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Following the lowest attended Minnesota State Fair Monday since the 1980s – likely due to a mixture of both extreme heat and storms impending – the Great Minnesota Get-Together experienced a rebound on Tuesday.

What we know

124,777 people passed through the gates on Tuesday, despite a delayed start of 9 a.m. so crews could assess damage from the storms. 134,952 people attended on the same day in 2023, while 112,922 attended in 2022. The all-time high for the date was 136,987 in 2019.

Monday's reported attendance for the fair reached just 80,546 visitors. The average fair attendance for the first Monday since 2000 is 122,408 people.

Monday morning and early afternoon were hot with heat index temperatures pushing over 100 degrees. Then, severe storms swept through the metro in the evening, flooding the fairgrounds.

Busy beginning

The fair set back-to-back records to start in 2024, with high attendance on both opening day and the first Friday.

Early morning severe storms hit MN State Fair [RAW]

FOX 9’s Se Kwon went live on Facebook early Tuesday morning as another severe storm hit the Minnesota State Fair, causing flash flooding on the grounds. Officials delayed opening the fairgrounds to the public for two hours as crews worked to assess the damage and clean up the debris.