Iowa State Fair attendance for Day 4 sets record for first Sunday of the fair
The 2023 Iowa State Fair attendance on Day 4 was nearly 115,000 people, a record-breaking number for the first Sunday of the fair.
Sunday saw 114,937 fairgoers come through the gates, 4,300 more than on the same day last year. It also tops the record-setting 112,396 who attended in 2017.
The fair first topped 1 million visitors in 2002, with 1,008,174 fairgoers, and has surpassed the mark each year since except for 2010, when 967,381 went through the gates. The all-time attendance record of 1,170,375 was set in 2019; that figure broke the previous record of 1,130,260, a mark set in 2018.
The 2020 fair was canceled due to COVID-19. In its return in 2021, the fair drew 1,094,480 people, about 6.5% less than 2019's record, but still the seventh-largest figure in the fair's history.
Last year, the fair's total attendance topped 1 million again, with 1,118,763 people coming through the gates.
Here's how 2023 attendance compares to 2022
Day: 2023 (2022)
Thursday: 87,380 (82,862)
Friday: 101,177 (103,556)
Saturday: 118,286 (113,012)
Sunday: 114,937 (110,661)
Monday: TBD (87,599)
Tuesday: TBD (99,965)
Wednesday: TBD (97,901)
Thursday: TBD (99,715)
Friday: TBD (93,348)
Saturday: TBD (128,298)
Sunday: TBD (101,846)
Total: TBD (1,118,763)
2023 concert attendance
- For King + Country: 9,480
- Tyler Hubbard: 7,140
- New Kids on the Block: 9,481
- Eric Church: 17,283
Daily attendance records
- First Thursday: 101,262 in 2008
- First Friday: 115,703 in 2001
- First Saturday: 127,277 in 1991
- First Sunday: 114,937 in 2023
- Monday: 105,522 in 2017
- Tuesday: 102,953 in 2019
- Wednesday: 109,323 in 2019
- Second Thursday: 107,449 in 2015
- Second Friday: 112,891 in 2019
- Second Saturday: 128,298 in 2022
- Second Sunday: 119,754 in 2012
Attendance figures for last 10 Iowa State Fairs
- 2022: 1,118,763
- 2021: 1,094,480
- 2020: Canceled due to COVID-19
- 2019: 1,170,375
- 2018: 1,130,260
- 2017: 1,130,071
- 2016: 1,031,278
- 2015: 1,117,398
- 2014: 1,015,902
- 2013: 1,047,246
- 2012: 1,097,142
Iowa State Fair attendance: 24 biggest fairs
- 2019: 1,170,375
- 2018: 1,130,260
- 2017: 1,130,071
- 2022: 1,118,763
- 2019: 1,170,375
- 2018: 1,130,260
- 2017: 1,130,071
- 2015: 1,117,398
- 2008: 1,109,150
- 2012: 1,097,142
- 2021: 1,094,480
- 2011: 1,080,959
- 2004: 1,053,978
- 2013: 1,047,246
- 2016: 1,031,278
- 2014: 1,015,902
- 2006: 1,013,557
- 2003: 1,012,309
- 2002: 1,008,174
- 2009: 1,006,501
- 2005: 1,005,238
- 2007: 1,003,210
- 2001: 985,780
- 2000: 978,841
Source: Iowa State Fair
Editor's note: Saturday's attendance compared with 2022 was initially described incorrectly in the text and headlines. It was 5,000 more than last year.