Minnesota State Fair final attendance: 1.3 million, far below 2019 record

The 2021 Minnesota State Fair drew 123,578 people on Monday, its 12th and final day. That compares with 184,740 in 2019 and 171,588 in 2018.

The total attendance for this year's fair — one held amid COVID-19 pandemic worries a year after the 2020 fair was canceled due to public health concerns — was 1,301,584. That compares with 2,126,551 in 2019 (the fair's all-time attendance record) and 2,046,533 in 2018.

Day 1 (Thursday, Aug. 26): 61,983, down from 133,326 in 2019 (the attendance record for the fair's first Thursday) and 122,695 in 2018.

Day 2 (Friday, Aug. 27): 77,406, compared with 157,224 in 2019 (the attendance record for the fair's first Friday) and 108,059 in 2018.

Day 3 (Saturday, Aug. 28): 129,984, compared with 209,105 in 2019 and 222,144 in 2018 (the attendance record for the fair's first Saturday).

Day 4 (Sunday, Aug. 29): 149,247, compared with 191,524 in 2019 and 184,715 in 2018. (The record for the fair's first Sunday was 209,969 in 1994.)

Day 5 (Monday, Aug. 30): 91,568, compared with 96,716 in 2019 and 124,438 in 2018. (The record for the fair's fifth day was 144,504, set in 2017.)

Day 7 (Wednesday, Sept. 1): 88,027, compared with 142,211 in 2019 and 144,940 in 2018 (the attendance record for the fair's seventh day).

Day 8 (Thursday, Sept. 2): 80,778, compared with 153,274 in 2019 and 156,764 in 2018 (the attendance record for the fair's eighth day).

Day 9 (Friday, Sept. 3): 102,020, compared with 209,789 in 2019 (the attendance record for the fair's ninth day) and 179,402 in 2018.

Day 10 (Saturday, Sept. 4): 153,953, compared with 266,412 in 2019 and a gate-busting 270,426 in 2018 (the record for a single-day attendance at the fair).

Day 11 (Sunday, Sept. 5): 153,422, compared with 245,243 (the attendance record for the fair's 11th day) in 2019 and 241,102 in 2018.