The Illinois Department of Agriculture is reporting that a record number of people visited the Illinois State Fair this year. During the 11-day fair, an estimated 636,700 people entered the fairgrounds. It is the highest number of attendees since the fair began tracking attendance in 2014. Last year’s attendance was 472,390, and in 2020 the fair was canceled due to COVID-19.
The 2022 fair brought in about $6.4 million in revenue, with Grandstand revenues setting a new record of more than $2.3 million for the nine paid performers. The most successful Grandstand show this year was Brooks & Dunn, which drew a paid crowd of 10,142.