Carnival & Fair News

Every four years, some more seasoned veterans of the fair industry cite a familiar rule of thumb that presidential election years are off years. They theorize that consumers tend to curtail spending when the nation is selecting the commander-in-chief, mainly attributable to the unknown.

While Election Day – November 5 – now seems like a century ago, it's hard to forget what a doozy the 2024 election was. Volatile, surprised-pack – the conventions and debates had their highest ratings ever.

Adding to the trepidation were concerns over the economy. Inflation was still a concern, even though it had cooled by mid-year, the higher prices still bit into the family budget. Although on the plus side, the U.S. economy had the strongest post-lockdown recovery of any developed nation with record lows in unemployment.

COVID-19 may be in the rearview window – and the fair industry saw strong years in 2023 and 2022. The worry was would this streak continue.

The answer was a resounding – and somewhat surprising – yes, that streak not only persists, but the election year hex seemed never cast. Turnout was not just robust, but fairs made significant strides in attracting younger families and fairgoers. Many fairs – especially the top tier – have enhanced programming and social media marketing, resulting in an increase in millennials.

Millennial Marketing

Tradition and nostalgia are essential elements to fair appeal. But unless fairs balance the tried-and-true with innovative programing and marketing, the events can seem stale, especially to younger demographics or newer segments of a community. What 2024 showed was that stasis was by far the exception. Fair managers are thinking outside the box in terms of outreach and reaping the rewards.

“We had an incredible year,” said Jeremy Parsons, Fair Manager & CEO of the Iowa State Fair (#9), which had a record attendance in 2024. “Fairs are the unique balance of tradition and new. We expanded some programming, like for our Latino audience, to keep relevant to our community. The world is changing so fast, what we stand for is tradition, but we want to be new and cutting edge and fun. It's a balancing act.”
And, even with the economic woes afflicting North America, fairgoers were spending. “Per visitor spend was on par with 2023 which again in itself is incredible given the financial strain on most Canadians today,” said Darrell Brown, CEO, Canadian National Exhibition (#6). “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.”

“[Fairgoers] were spending,” said Julie LaFave, Director of The Great New York State Fair (#19). “Wade Shows communicated to us revenue was up. The majority of the 13 days we saw an increase in spending.”

The annual Top 50 Fairs, as compiled by Carnival Warehouse, ranks the top fairs in North America and 2024 contained very positive indicators that North Americans have rekindled their romance for midways, outdoor shows, agricultural programming and food-on-a-stick. Most fairs saw increases over last year's attendance, only 12 top-50 fairs saw decreases – most of which were nominal and all of which were due to weather.

The remaining 38 events saw increases in turnout, with eight fairs setting records – Eastern States Exposition (#4); Calgary Stampede (#7); Iowa State Fair (#9); Wisconsin State Fair(#12) Wilson County Fair/TN State Fair (#20); Illinois State Fair (#24) and Allegan County (MI) Fair (#50). Eight fairs – the same number as 202 —3 broke their attendance records in 2024. To sustain this pattern for two consecutive years is astounding. It's the highest number of record-breaking fairs in recent memory – only two fairs broke records in 2022, only six in 2019.

Pre-Pandemic Levels

Annual attendance is an imperfect metric – the Eastern State Fair saw a rain-driven downtick in attendance in 2023 yet like this year, remained in the #7 slot. The Top-50 fairs – particularly the top 20 – see little year-to-year fluctuation in the individual rankings despite upticks and downticks in the exact amount of turnout. But in the aggregate, the list's upwards surge shows that more than a million more folks attended fairs in 2024 than the year before – and they are spending. “We had an amazing fair,” said Gene Cassidy, President/CEO, Eastern States Exposition, whose 2024 run included seven record days. “People are pretty far away enough from COVID that they got their consumer-confidence back.”

Not only were they spending, Cassidy like many fair mangers in 2024, are noting that the once elusive millennial demographic are discovering this time-tested bastion of Americana. “People long for tradition, especially the young couples with very young children. We're seeing more young people who were in high school during lockdown, and they want to be connecting with the community. People want the company of others and they now place a greater value on that experience.”

What fairs have seen is not only consecutive years of sustained growth following the global coronavirus crisis, but a restoration of spending pre-2019, or better. Allegan County Fair – #50 – had a record year of 334,678, which landed one of the largest outdoor events in Michigan on the list. According to Saree Miller, Executive Director, the fair has in the past squeezed into the lower reaches the list, but with some good weather and grandstand headliners that included Ludacris and Third Eye Blind, the fair returned to the list for the first time this decade.

“We're doing better than the pre-pandemic years,” said Miller. “We drawing more people from a wider radius. We're definitely getting more and more young people. I think it's a combination of people being interested in where their food comes from, what we've been doing on social media and bringing in talent like Ludacris.”

The Allegan County Fair, like many fairs, is on a growth trajectory, the record this year's attendance broke was set in 2023. Last year, the South Carolina State Fair, held the last-but-not-least slot but as further indication that the fairs are on the rise, with a 17 percent increase that fair rose to 42 with 404,864. 29 percent of the fair's marketing budget was spent on digital advertising, and it expanded its social media presence with more Tik-Tok content, increased utilization of Threads, Instagram and Facebook.

“Our highest attended Fair was in 2019, with 565,533, and this year is the 2nd highest attended Fair,” said Maggie Lane, Marketing and Business Development Director, Georgia National Fair (#33), a fair that had a 12 percent increase in attendance over 2023.

Statewide Incentivizing

Coupled with a cleverly effective marketing tagline “46 Reasons to Celebrate South Carolina” – 46 refers to the number of counties in the state – the fair incentivized statewide participation by appealing to county pride – each county was showcased at the fair. “Attitude for the fairgoer was excited and enthusiastic,” said Nancy Smith, General Manager, South Carolina State Fair. “Both food sales and ride gross saw double digit percentage sales increases.”



Lynda Franc, Corporate Marketing Director, NAME – the fair's midway provider, also noticed a youth movement trend. “This year's South Carolina State Fair was a roaring success. The South Carolina State Fair continues to do a great job by prioritizing its patrons and creating a welcoming atmosphere where guests feel valued, with younger adults showing up in strong numbers.”

The top 10 North American Fairs remain locked in their year-to-year positions Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (#1); State Fair of Texas(#2); Minnesota State Fair(#3); Eastern States Exposition(#4); San Antonio Livestock Show & Exposition(#5); Canadian National Exhibition(#6); Calgary Stampede(#7); Arizona State Fair(#8); Iowa State Fair(#9); Fort Worth Stock Show (#10).

Notably, only the CNE, Arizona and Forth Worth saw downticks, albeit nominal – while the other top-rung events saw upticks – also nominal. Now, long-term industry observers know the top-tier are firmly ensconced in their rankings – for more than a decade, pandemic years not withstanding – but as the top fairs go, so does the industry.

When asked if the post-lockdown fair-boom has been as ongoing for smaller fairs – which act as feeder fairs for many of the larger events – as it was for larger fairs in 2024, retiring President & CEO of the IAFE, Marla Calico, replied: “Without a doubt! Our team monitors published news accounts about fairs on a daily basis, and the only impact on vibrant and successful fairs of all sizes and across the vast landscape of our membership remains our industry's #1 nemesis – the weather!”

Americana & Cowboy Cool

What these top fairs are noticing is that the wider range of their community continue to swell turnout, returning to pre-pandemic levels. The #1 fair, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, welcomed more than 2.5 million, an increase over the 2023 turnout and the highest overall attendance nice 2017, which also included seven record-breaking auctions and two record-breaking paid stadium attendance records.


Lisa Gagnon, Chief Marketing Officer Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, said: “We most certainly are seeing the resurgence in the popularity around cowboy culture…We now have people who may have never been to a rodeo before entertain the idea of visiting, or individuals who have never owned a cowboy hat make a fashion pivot because of what's trending. We have also seen an increase in diversity of our attendees.”

Cowboy culture – and by extensions all things “western” – is definitely having a moment in popular culture, resonating with millennials like never before and cited as factor boosting turnout. “The 2024 Calgary Stampede was one for the history books, with record-breaking attendance, incredible weather and the opening of some exciting Stampede Park development projects,” said Christine Thompson, Corporate Communications Manager, Calgary Stampede. “2024 absolutely exceeded our expectations,” said Thompson.” More than 25 per cent of guests also indicated that this was their first Stampede, and more than 40 per cent of guests shared that they visited Stampede more than once in 2024.”

In 2024, many fairs also pumped up the outreach to new members of the community, particularly the Hispanic market. “It was our most well-attended fair with Latin Music as a headliner,” said Renee Alexander, CEO, Minnesota State Fair. “Our Latin audience continues to grow.”

In fact, the Latin music night was a bright spot in a very tough talent buyer environment for fairs, one showing little signs of easing in 2025. “Booking was harder,” Alexander admitted. “There seems to be less artists out there performing and more events and venues. Production and tech costs have risen. We had to make adjustments to pricing. I feel that the live music as a draw has softened a little bit as a draw.”

The Illinois State Fair had back-to-back record years, a success story and another example of a fair exceeding pre-pandemic attendance. This new appeal was fueled by a $85.3 million renovation project the state has approved for the fairgrounds, including renovated coliseum and arena. “Fairgoers were ecstatic to experience these remarkable improvements at the facility,” said Rebecca Clark, Fair Manager, Illinois State Fair (#24). “Revenues for the 2024 Illinois State Fair were up from 2023.



The Illinois State Fair, which pre-pandemic saw declining attendance, mismanagement and lack of attention by the state government, is the turnaround story of the year. But a major factor has been the proactive attitude towards reaching the next generation of fairgoers. “Illinois State Fair social media was rebranded earlier in the year with a fresh color palette, new icons and an emphasis on strong, vibrant and compelling photo and video content. Improving our online presence was a powerful reminder to the younger generation that the Illinois State Fair is relevant.”