Carnival & Fair News

A Rainy start but strong finish marked the 2024 Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), one of the largest outdoor events in Ontario, Canada's most populous province. A reported 1.49 million visitors came to the CNE, proving not only has the event restored its pre-pandemic vigor, but has earned global attention for its wide array of attractions, entertainment and programming.

“In a world where people are increasingly isolating themselves choosing technology over direct interaction, our attendance numbers continue to demonstrate that people crave what we offer,” said Darrell Brown, CEO, CNE. “We had over 300 pages of activities listed. There is something for everyone. There was a Globe and Mail article last year that praised our event as a place where people can let their guard down, not care about what political position the person beside them holds, just smile, talk, eat, drink and have fun. We are still putting smiles on faces.”

“The CNE was a hit once again!” said Lynda Franc, Corporate Marketing Director, North American Midway Entertainment (NAME). “Even though the opening weekend was slowed down by some rough weather, the following weeks saw a big boost in attendance.; We've been part of the CNE since NAME started 20 years ago and have built a great partnership to keep the event thriving. It has an incredibly rich history and they did a wonderful job of celebrating that this year through different activations.”

Exceeding Forecasts

According to an official CNE Press Release: “Organizers predicted approximately 300,000 visitors over the last four days of the CNE, traditionally capped off by the Canadian International Air Show. Actual attendance was closer to 450,000 visitors - one of the highest attended weekends in recent years.”

2024 CNE attendees spending exceeded $210 million dollars. The CNE annually generates an economic impact of approximately $112 million for the Greater Toronto Area and $143 million for the province of Ontario. All in all, Brown declared that 2024 was “Another banner year! Despite some early weather related challenges, we had a strong attendance that was higher than our pre pandemic years. It was the rainiest August on record. Saturday August 17 and Sunday August 18 saw more than a month's worth of rain, according to Environment Canada.”

The Canadian Economy has dragged in its post-lockdown recovery and inflation has plagued consumers, much like in the U.S. as well as globally. But despite these mounting strains on the family's household budget, community support for the event was sustained. “Per visitor spend was on par with 2023 which again in itself is incredible given the financial strain on most Canadians today.” Brown explained. “We saw an overall decrease but that was tied directly to attendance being lower than 2023.If you listen to or read the news, you will see challenges being faced by Canadians related to affordability. Reports of inflation increases, rising housing costs and wide spread food insecurity would indicate that our spend onsite would suffer, but we did not see that per visitor.”

Video Funhouse

One of the largest midways on NAME's route, the CNE feature 60 rides, the same as 2023. The overall trajectory of the CNE continues on an positive path. “Midway revenue was down compared to 2023, but again similar to overall spend, that can be attributed to the lower attendance this year. That said, it exceeded the budget projection and generally was considered to be a good year.”

The midway featured one new ride and a host of NAME staples. “New this year was the Video Funhouse, alongside fan favorites like the Polar Express and the Super Wheel. The Super Wheel offers a really incredible view of the Toronto city skyline, including the CN Tower, which is unparalleled elsewhere in the city,” said Franc.

Fairgoer enthusiasm remained high at the CNE, which seemed consistent throughout the company's Canadian route. “The CNE is our second-to-last stop in Canada, with the Western Fair in London, ON, up next. Throughout our time in Canada this season, fairgoers were super enthusiastic, and we were excited to see more local hires than we did in the last couple of years.”

Food Hall Of Fame

CNE's well-earned reputation for fair cuisine was not just fully served at the 2024, but the fair gained more headlines by introducing the CNE Food Hall of Fame, “a new tradition that aims to celebrate the foods that have shaped the CNE experience,” according to an official CNE statement.



The creating of a CNE FOOD HOF was in conjunction with the 70th Anniversary of the Food Building, a key CNE venue on Exhibition Place, the 97-acre fairgrounds that also includes monuments, parkland, sports facilities and national historic sites. A permanent exhibit in the exhibition space, the “CNE Food Hall of Fame, a new legacy commemorating the iconic, the innovative, the creative, and the memorable foods that have shaped the culinary reputation of Canada's favorite fair… the CNE plans to make the CNE Food Hall of Fame an ongoing tradition to select a handful of food items to induct each year.

Similar to large pennants hung in sports arenas, inductees are recognized with a banner that will hang in the iconic Food Building year-round. The taste treats CNE has deemed iconic enough for permanent commutation were: Tiny Tom Donuts; Ice Cream Waffle; Pickle Pizza; Primo Spaghetti and Deep-Fried Butter.

According to Brown, among the new foods introduced at this year's fair, “fan favorites were items like the Tzatziki Cheesecake from the Greekery Bakeshop, Sweet or Spicy Mochi Funnel Cake from O-Mochi, Jalapeno Lemonade from Alijandro's Kitchen, the Giant Samosa from Bombay Spice Street and the return of the iconic Deep-Fried Butter from Legend Dairy & Deep Fried. This year, like every year, there are some new food items that are incredibly popular. Specifically, this year items like Wasabi Ice Cream, Deep fried Butter Chicken Lasagna, etc.”

Summer With Us

The CNE Food Hall of Fame was sponsored by the Toronto Star, giving the event a marketing edge that enhanced the fair's outreach. The CNE marketing budget was “consistent with previous years – but we did shift some investment into larger scale items like the production of a 3D digital board which was featured at Yonge & Dundas Square,” said Brown.

The budget's media allocation –; 19 percent Radio; 8 percent Linear TV; 9 percent Print; 24 percent OOH & 40 percent Digital – was similar to 2024, although “more was added to OOH and digital continues to grow year over year with streaming networks growing in the marketplace,” he explained.

The marketing tagline from 2023 “Summer with Us” – cleverly evoking the CNE as a national vacation destination – was augmented by creative wordplay that reinforced the welcoming community the event engenders – “it was built out to extend the community focus and tradition preservation by the consistent use of “with Us” throughout campaign media – “Celebrate with Us, Indulge with Us, Ride with Us – Summer with Us”,” said Brown.

Supplementing the marketing campaign was a more extensive outreach by emphasizing engagement and incorporating influencers to extend the brand. “Like everyone, we are always looking for new ways to leverage our strong social media following. We really built out several engagement efforts – specifically with shared User-Generated Content (UGC) and creating a network of our own Influencers. In addition, we optimized our BTS content by featuring our terrific team which was a hit – especially when it was paired with a trending sound!”

The fair's amphitheater shows are not separate admission, but the stage continues to draw star power to its stage and thousands of fans. “Our Bell CNE Bandshell stage had major stars like Brittany Howard, The Bahamas, April Wine, Big Boi, The Reklaws, Down with Webster and many more. There were huge crowds for our Soca night and Down with Webster.”

Talent buying for the CNE like other fairs remains a sellers' market. “Booking was more challenging,” said Brown. “Pricing has increased substantially leading us to consider raising the Bandshell budget so that we can continue to attract the talent we want to attract.”

Brown led team CNE in overcoming these challenges. “We had a terrific programming lineup this year. Our Bell CNE Bandshell was a huge draw for our visitors. In addition, we added some fantastic new marquee programming like the EX Games which was a halfpipe show that featured Olympic skateboarder Andy MacDonald, Classic Championship Wrestling featuring WWE Hall of Fame wrestlers and the returning CNE Aquarama Waterfront Show.”

Meeting Expectations

Fairs, like all outdoor events, are subject to the whims of Mother Nature. Brown is realistic that a rainy opening of the fair suppressed hopes of passing last year's landmark grosses, but the 2024 CNE proved why this event is part of the entertainment landscape of the region. “It would have been difficult to replicate 2023 given the weather at the front end of the Fair. We exceeded our budget despite significant challenges. We continued to generate significant media coverage, and we continued to attract a broad swath by income category, age and ethnicity. Overall, I would say it met expectations; it did not exceed expectations.”

Another banner year also helped the CNE cause. The fair is involved with often tense negotiations with the city of Toronto, the fair's landlord whose been filling in budget shortfalls by rezoning portions of Exposition Place for sale to developers. The reformatting of pieces of the CNE's fairgrounds could threaten the future of the event but a solid outing in 2024 reinforced the vital role the fair plays in the Toronto economy. “It is not so much that the City is selling off more property. There are a host of redevelopments scheduled on site that all can impact our ability to operate the way we need to. In addition, questions surround our continuing access to buildings we constructed mid-20th century like the Food Building and the Better Living Centre. We operate on a different model than most fairs in that we rent the space for the duration of the fair and do not program the facilities year-round (with some minor exceptions). Our mission is to continue to have the access we need and to negotiate long-term leases on strategic properties on site that will allow us to conduct more 365 day per year programming. Our landlord, Exhibition Place, has been consulting with others on building uses. The risk is that we see leases granted to others rather than us or that buildings are demolished in favor of new construction that will not be accessible for CNE purposes. It is unlikely that any meaningful decisions will be made until after the 2026 World Cup. We therefore expect to have comparable access for 2025.”