The Minnesota State Fair's 2025 opening day almost saw record attendance.
On Thursday, Aug. 21, 137,148 people came to the fair, just shy of last year's record-setting tally of 138,875.
That's a strong start on the heels of what came close to being a record-setting year in 2024, where five of the 12 days set a new high-water mark for admissions.
In total, 1,925,904 fairgoers came through the gates in 2024. That wasn't far off from 2019's record-setting figure of 2,126,551.
Part of the fair falling short last year was the weather. There was intense heat on multiple days, with the "feels like" index topping 100.
The fair's 12-day run also coincided with a storm that caused power outages in the state. At the fair, the storm forced a Grandstand cancellation and a late opening the following day.
This year's fair is looking much cooler, while remaining dry at least for the next week, meaning there could be big crowds this weekend and beyond.
Related: Minnesota State Fair 2025: The best and worst new foods, part 2
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Aug 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the MN Lifestyle section. Add Bring Me The News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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