Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Delaware State Fair draws good crowds overall including setting single day record

Delaware Public Media

Despite some of the hottest temperatures of the summer, Delaware State Fair officials say this year’s fair drew good crowds.

The fair had a strong turnout - welcoming 299,511 fairgoers during its 10-day event - the 4th best attendance in fair history.

This included a single day attendance record when over 58,600 visited on the fair’s final day July 30.

Delaware State Fair assistant general manager Danny Aguilar says this year’s fair was closer to the pre-pandemic normal of 2019.

"The 328,000 people that came out to our centennial celebration. We were just shy of the 300,000 mark for this year,” said Aguilar. “So folks were very much once again returning back to normalcy. Our concerts were back to full grandstand capacity at the M&T Bank grandstand, but then also our livestock shows. We were able to return back to a full schedule and a full run of shows, and that certainly was a departure from 2020 and 2021."

Aguilar notes the diverse concert lineup as well as a sold out Demolition Derby helped the fair’s cause.

Aguilar believes there were some outside factors driving the high attendance numbers.

"Whether it's inflationary type situations or conditions mixed in with some folks just coming out of pandemic type situations it definitely deemed the Delaware State Fair as a source of entertainment," said Aguilar.

Aguilar notes a full schedule of livestock shows after two pandemic restricted years helped.

During the hottest days of the event, fair officials say the crowds made good use of the seven air-conditioned buildings and selected cool fair-time treats to stay cool.

Also, large fans in most livestock buildings was a new cooling feature this year, providing comfort for animals, exhibitors, and visitors.

An-Li became a reporter while completing her law degree at Stanford. In law school, she wrote about housing affordability, criminal justice and economic development, among other topics. She also served as the intern to NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg in Washington, DC, helping Ms. Totenberg to cover the U.S. Supreme Court and other legal matters. Originally from Pittsburgh, An-Li interned with the investigations team at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before joining WESA in August 2017.