Illinois State Fair officials say the 2022 edition of the fair has set an all-time attendance record.
Bolstered by beautiful weather for most of the fair, more than 636,000 people came through the gates during the event from August 11th through the 21st. That’s the most since the state moved to an industry-standard system of calculating attendance. Fair attendance estimates often approached or topped one million during the 1980s, but those figures are not seen as wholly reliable.
This year’s fair brought in an estimated $6.4 million in revenue, just below the record $6.5 million from 2019… but fair officials say those figures are not final, and more money could still come in. Grandstand ticket revenue set a record, at $2.3 million.
