Nearly 600,000 attended State Fair in Sacramento. Here’s how it compares to past years

Attendance figures for the California State Fair show that fewer people went through the turnstiles in 2023, a pattern that hasn’t been seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 590,000 people attended the fair this year, down 9% from the 650,000 attendees in 2022.

Fair spokeswoman Darla Givens said that the fair “won’t speculate” on the cause of the decline. Before the pandemic, the State Fair’s attendance was lower but attendance in 2022 increased after two years of fair operations ceasing due to coronavirus.

According to statistics compiled by The Sacramento Bee, the total of 594,114 for this year was slightly better the event’s lowest year, 2018, in which the turnstiles moved 572,250 times. The figures were also a 43% decrease from the State Fair’s record highest attendance of 1.04 million in 2001.

Day-by-day attendance figures were not available, Givens said. The State Fair reported a record number of visitors on the last Saturday of the fair, topping out at 65,000.

Historically, the State Fair has seen decreased attendance on hotter days, said Givens. Thirteen days of the fair’s 17-day run were much warmer than the average 95 degrees expected for this time of year, making it the warmest State Fair in the past five years.

The opening weekend of the California State Fair was among the hottest stretches in July, with a record-setting recorded high of 109 degrees on July 16. The heat persisted throughout the next weekends, abating only for the closing days of the State Fair as highs dipped below 100.

Other factors that could have hurt attendance: The cancellation of horse racing during opening weekend due to the excessive heat and the ongoing closure of Raging Waters, which has sat closed on the Cal Expo property after operators Palace Entertainment ended its lease.

The water park is expected to reopen after Cal Expo officials signed a new lease with Silverwood Entertainment, which plans to expand and reopen the facility as California Dreamin’.

Still, languishing attendance may not bode well for the State Fair or Cal Expo. The state agency’s 2022 budget projected $15 million from the State Fair, about 65% of its anticipated annual revenue.

A 2021 audit showed Cal Expo faces a looming financial threat: aging infrastructure and $1.6 million in pension payments to the California Public Employee’s Retirement System that needs to be made by 2030.

According to the audit, many structures at Cal Expo have “reached their serviceable lifespan.”

Givens said the fair is still calculating the economic impact of the 2023 State Fair.

This story was originally published August 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM.