A final accounting of the State Fair released Thursday shows the event well-attended but nevertheless slightly battered by the recession.
More people went to the 10-1/2-day fair than last year, but the event generated less money than in 2008, state agriculture officials said.
Nearly 878,000 people attended the fair this year, including workers, vendors, exhibitors and media, groups that were not counted in previous years. Paid attendance -- those who bought admission tickets or exchanged canned goods on Hunger Relief Day for admission -- was 651,729, up from about 645,000 last year.
Gate receipts brought in about $3.2 million this year, down from nearly $3.4 million the year before. The carnival company, Powers Great American Midways, paid the state nearly $3.5 million, about the same as last year.
Brian Long, spokesman for the state Agriculture Department, which runs the fair, said the decline in admission revenue can be attributed to slow sales of advance tickets. Those sales are often driven by companies purchasing large blocks of tickets, and this year fewer companies were able to do so.
Also, the fair's most heavily attended day was the second Thursday, the day when people who bring canned goods to donate to the Food Bank get free admission. More than 48,000 people took advantage of that deal this year, up from about 30,000 last year.
"People were interested in getting free admission, but they were also interested in helping out the Food Bank," Long said. "And the Food Bank really needed that help."
He said the fair collected more than 237,000 pounds of food.
Long said that, overall, this year's fair was a success -- despite a cold, rainy start.
"The thing I learned this year is, even when it's cold, people will come to the fair," Long said. "As long as it's dry, they are going to come."
