Carnival & Fair News

There is no better present for a fair when it turns 173 than record breaking attendance. The Wisconsin State Fair attracted 1,136,805 Fairgoers, breaking the previous record of 1,130,572 from 2019. A generally favorable weather pattern, headline entertainment that included Foreigner with Melissa Etheridge, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, KIDZ BOP LIVE 2024, Lauren Daigle with Andrew Ripp, Yung Gravy with Nicky Youre and the ever-green but updated “Happy Together” Tour and a slightly leaner Spin City midway featuring exciting new additions of the Crazy Mouse Rollercoaster, Kraken and Dizzy Dragons.

This iconic Midwestern tradition has now exceeded pre-pandemic attendance, resetting its ongoing upwards trajectory. The success has been the years-long effort by the fair to continually build upon the attributes of family, fun and food, spanning three centuries and have kept this tradition relevant to its community.



“The past few years we have focused on enhancing the State Fair Park experience and brand, as well as bringing additional value to our consumers,” said Shari Black, Chief Executive Officer of State Fair Park, who was appointed to the captain's chair in 2022 after being with the fair since 2016. “I am so proud of the State Fair Park staff, and thankful for our sponsors, vendors, exhibitors, and Fairgoers who helped make the 2024 Wisconsin State Fair so successful. This year's attendance and revenue are a testament to their hard work and I am truly grateful to work with such an amazing team.”

“I believe we are the BEST State Fair in the country, and I'd like to thank the Fairgoers who joined us for the best 11 days of summer and congratulate the State Fair Park Board and staff. It is their passion and dedication that made this a record-breaking year,” said John Yingling, Chairman of the Board. “While the Wisconsin State Fair is often recognized as one of the top fairs in North America, breaking our own attendance record proves that we truly deserve this recognition. “

Excellent Year

Other noteworthy metrics reported include: more than 10,000 competitive exhibits, with 9,800 exhibits showcased in Grand Champion Hall alone; more than 1,000 ribbons were handed out at the fair, the Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction raised $426,750. and the Blue Ribbon Dairy Products Auction raised a record-breaking $65,080.



“We had an excellent year overall,” said Kristin Chuckel, Spokesman, Wisconsin State Fair. “We broke our attendance record, which is great, but there is so much more than attendance that makes a fair successful. We have worked hard the past several years to make the entire experience more enjoyable for our fairgoers, and I think we have succeeded in many ways. This includes improvements to our gates, several new attractions, newly paved areas of the fair park, layout changes, and other things to enhance the experience.”

Attendance soared to 1,136,805, an increase of 9 percent over 2023 with multiple and consecutive record days tallied: “The last 5 days of the fair all broke the records for single day attendance since we have been scanning tickets,” said Chuckel.

Spending & Inflation

Mother Nature seemed in a good mood especially as the fair gained momentum, but you couldn't tell that by an opening day forecast. “The first night was unfortunately not good,” she said. “We had to cancel our Main Stage act due to a storm with lightning that began as people were starting to enter the Main Stage area. Based on information from the National Weather Service, who sends a representative to our fair every day, the lightning would remain in the area for several hours, which forced us to make this difficult decision. After that, we had a couple hot days as well as some pop-up storms on Monday and some rain Tuesday morning, but Wednesday through the end of the fair had beautiful weather. It was approximately 75 degrees and sunny every day.



Revenue also broke records, with spending consistent with 2023. “We do not have our per cap number calculated yet this year, but it will most likely be right on par with last year,” she said.

Inflation was apparent at the fair, as it has been throughout all sectors of the economy, but not only did it not seem to curtail fair spending, but an onsite news broadcast revealed a fair-preference as to where families allot their entertainment budgets. “We know our fairgoers are concerned about inflation, as we had FOX National News on site for a few days talking with our guests about this. But we loved hearing that even though food, utilities and housing prices are affecting people's spending habits, many of them saved up to go to the fair and said they would never miss it. We also did not receive complaints about our pricing from consumers.”

Spin City

Spin City, an independent midway featured 38 rides and 27 games, which had three fewer rides and one less company than last year. The trend for this iconic midway was to find the right selection of equipment while addressing complaints about bottlenecks and crowding issues by implementing a roomier layout. “Overall, we are booking less rides and games from fewer companies post-lockdown,” she explained. “There is something to be said about not overcrowding the midway and ensuring that those you do book have a greater share of the percentage of equipment on grounds. Rather than divide the pie into more pieces, we have found that it is more worthwhile as an independent midway to try and find opportunities in booking new equipment through existing relationships.”

Rides making their Wisconsin State Fair debut were the Crazy Mouse Rollercoaster, Kraken and Dizzy Dragons, with top grossing rides being the Crazy Mouse as well as the Wave Swinger and Alpine Bobs and an estimated 90,000 trips on the SkyGlider.



The ride strategy for the midway was to take advantage of new rides by proven collaborators. “Pre-lockdown, it was common to look outside for the “new” equipment. Post-lockdown, that mindset has shifted and there is a greater benefit to working with companies who you know and trust.”

While tried-and-true fair cuisine staples are essential to the Wisconsin State Fair experience, the event has one of the most effectively publicized annual new food contests in the industry – the Sporkies for food, and the Drinkies, the non-alcoholic beverage competition. Winners of the contest, one of the kick-off-events-within-the event, are often the “hottest” sellers each year. The First Place Sporkie was won by Saz's BBQ, serving more than 28,000 orders of Deep-Fried Lemonade Bites. Old Fashioned Sipper Club, now two-time Drinkies winner, served 9,000 Fairway Fusions.

The fair's signature food – Cream Puffs – celebrated its 100th Anniversary with the Cream Puff Lovin' Celebration, presented by UW Credit Union – an interactive attraction that highlighted “every aspect of Cream Puff fun” – and included eating contests, dance parties and exhibits honoring the Kremer family and Wisconsin Bakers Association, who were responsible for bringing the Cream Puff to the Wisconsin State Fair so many generations ago. The Original Cream Puff Team served up 352,000 Original Cream Puffs this year, and more than 21,000 were sold of a new twist on an old favorite – Specialty Flavored Cream Puffs. “The event and promotion was created to highlight the 100th Birthday of the Cream Puff,” said Chuckel. “It did achieve its objective of celebrating this milestone.”

The marketing theme for the fair was the tagline – Feeling Good!, invoking immediacy and experience. A new promotion highlighted individual attendees, where “11 families were crowned the UScellular Fairgoers of the Day in a brand-new program to surprise and delight fairgoers who embody the fair spirit, according to an official press release.



The fair increased it's advertising budget to $1M, up from $930,000 in 2023. The fair shifted funds towards social media promotions and retained a robust Influencer budget of $17,000. The $1,000,000 budget was allocated: traditional advertising: $815,000; Social Media: $142,000; Influencer: $17,000; Partner Advertising: $26,000.

The marketing content emphasized engagement, storytelling and new video techniques. “Across the Wisconsin State Fair social platforms, we increasingly followed the trend of utilizing vertical videos and reels on our social platforms, primarily Instagram and Facebook, to give our fairgoers a more immersive and enhanced experience,” said Chuckel.

In terms of engagement, the objective was to create an informative, user-friendly platform that kept fairgoers connected. ““To enhance the fairgoers' experience, we also leaned into informational calendar style graphics that serve as a one-stop shop for information that would be easily digestible for our audience,” she said. “Some examples would be our What's in the Barns graphics, which raise awareness to the fairgoers about the various animals that can be found at the Wisconsin State Fair, when they can be found in the barns, and when the barns close each day. These colorful, calendar style graphics are an engaging way to share lots of information in a quick moment.”

One of the first fairs to add regional Influencers into their marketing, Chuckel also enhanced that program in 2024. “One other initiative we incorporated was working with various local influencers on social media to showcase the State Fair experience through their own voice/lens. These collaborations happened primarily on Instagram through vertical videos and static images.”