Minnesota State Fair comes up just short of new record on Friday

Minnesota State Fair sees massive rebound on first two days of 2022 event

After COVID-19 led to a poorly attended 2021, fairgoers have returned en masse for 2022, which the fair coming just short of setting a new record on Friday.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota State Fair came up just short of setting a new record on Friday, as more than 153,000 people came through the gates.

The 153,367 visitors on Friday were just a few thousand people short of the attendance record of 157,224 set on the first Friday in 2019. While not a record, it's the second-highest attendance in the fair's history for a first Friday.

Attendance has completely rebounded from last year, when only 77,406 showed up for the first Friday, as COVID-19 concerns had many people staying home.

Thursday saw 121,478, which was nearly double last year's attendance, but also the third-highest opening day since 1975, when the fair started opening on Thursday.