2026 Minnesota State Fair has already set a new attendance record — on the very first day
The Minnesota State Fair kicked off its 2026 run in record-breaking fashion, as 155,185 people passed through the gates on Thursday, smashing the previous single-day mark for the fair's opening Thursday.
The new figure blows past the old daily record of 138,875, set in 2024, by more than 16,000 visitors. It's also a jump of roughly 18,000 from last year's opening-day crowd of 137,148.
The turnout continues a trend that's been building for years. The fair's final day in 2025 revealed that more than 1.8 million visitors had come through by the second-to-last day, on the way to a total that ranked as the fifth best-attended fair on record.
With crowds already trending upward heading into this year's 12-day run, which features new attractions like a 230-foot Ferris wheel and a renovated Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum, organizers and fairgoers alike will be watching closely to see whether the rest of the fair keeps pace with this record-setting start.
The fair's all-time daily attendance record remains 270,426, set on the second Saturday in 2018, while the highest annual attendance total was 2,126,551 people in 2019. Whether 2026 has a shot at reaching either of those (falcon) heights will likely come down to what the weather does, and as of right now, the skies seem mostly agreeable.
