Attendance Drops, Revenue Increases at State Fair

The Illinois State Fair reported a small drop in attendance but higher vendor sales during the fair’s 11-day run.

Preliminary estimates showed 369,144 fair visitors, down 8 percent from the previous year.

Fairgoers appear to have spent more at this year’s fair than in 2017, based on sales receipts and taxes collected from vendors, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue (DOR). DOR reported sales receipts of $1.392 million and collected $87,036 in sales taxes. Both amounts were 16 percent higher than in 2017.

Attendance was highest on the two Saturdays, with the first Saturday drawing the largest crowd of 44,209, followed by 39,961 on the last Saturday. Agriculture Day with 39,310 visitors followed closely behind with the third-largest crowd.