With almost 2 million visitors, State Fair breaks attendance record

The State Fair welcomed 1,977,320 visitors in its 12-day run this year, breaking the previous attendance record set last year.

In 2016, the attendance count was 1,943,719.

Last Monday, Friday and Sunday each broke daily attendance records, too. The most-crowded of those days was Sunday, Sept. 3, when 242,759 people went to the fair.

Competitions at the fair were also big this year, the fair said.

Agricultural and creative competitions had more than 35,000 entries across several categories, with more than $1.5 million in prize money at stake.

Overall, Minnesota has the nation's second-largest state fair. Only Texas' is bigger. It lasts 24 days and had 2,408,032 guests last year.