NYS Fair attendance on pace for lowest in 40 years (despite adding more days)

Attendance at the Great New York State Fair is currently on pace for the lowest in four decades, despite adding five more days this year.

A total of 228,577 people walked through the NYS Fair gates over the first six days of the 2021 Fair, or an average of just under 38,100 people daily. If the remaining 12 days see similar numbers, total attendance will be about 686,000.

The last time NYS Fair attendance was below 700,000 was in 1981, when 651,709 people visited over 10 days. But even then, the daily average was nearly twice as much as this year’s 18-day Fair.

By comparison, the 2019 New York State Fair drew a record 1.33 million visitors over 13 total days. The Fair had set attendance records for four years in a row, topping 1 million in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

A then-record 1,011,248 attended the Fair in 2001, but record-keeping changed in 2012 to prevented inflated numbers. The methodology for counting fairgoers was modified to account for actual attendance; exhibitors were previously given 12-day punch cards and counted for all 12 days whether or not they showed up. Free tickets were also restricted to only those organizations that served a public purpose, then-Fair Director Dan O’Hara said at the time.

Crowds have been noticeably smaller every day this year, with no line for the $1 baked potato in the Horticulture Building and lots of walking room along the Midway rides. REO Speedwagon drew one of the 10 largest crowds in NYS Fair concert history on Wednesday, but overall Chevy Court and Chevy Park have seen fewer fans packed together.

New York State Fair Director Troy Waffner recently said it was hard to compare the first five days of the 2021 Fair to 2019, because this is the first 18-day NYS Fair. The fair expanded from 12 days to 13 days in 2017, and then added five days this year.

However, Day 6 attendance Wednesday was just 37,591. Wednesday was typically the first day of the fair in past years, and more than 74,000 attended opening day in 2019.

It’s clear that Covid-19 concerns remain high after the coronavirus pandemic cancelled last year’s New York State Fair. The new delta variant has led to a surge in Covid cases across the state and nationwide over the past month; masks are required inside all NYS Fair buildings this year, though not everyone’s following the rules.

“Look, we are excited to be open and wish everyone could come and enjoy themselves,” Waffner told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. “But people have to make their own choices, and if they’re not comfortable coming to the fair, we just have to deal with it.”

But the Erie County Fair did not see as large a dropoff from pre-Covid numbers. WKBW reports the state’s largest county fair was attended by 981,264 people over 12 days this month, just a 14% decrease from the average attendance over the previous five years.

If nothing else, 2021 certainly won’t see the lowest attendance numbers at the New York State Fair. Between 10,000 and 15,000 attended the nation’s first state fair held in Syracuse in 1841, and just over 25,000 came to a six-day “mini fair” in 1948.

If you’re having trouble seeing chart of NYS Fair attendance history, click here.