The Minnesota State Fair is over 320 acres of food on-a-stick, animals and people watching. However, when there are nearly a quarter-million people walking around — or worse, huddled in one spot eating corn-on-the-cob — you could get a bit frazzled.
Historically, the State Fair sees its lowest attendance on days six and seven, which are the only Tuesday and Wednesday dates during the Fair’s 12 day run. It’s considerably different. You can see previous State Fair attendance numbers here.
My other favorite day is Thrifty Thursday, which is always the first day of the State Fair. Everything is clean, people are happy, there are discounts on admission and there are typically less people who attend the first day, although it is higher than days 6 and 7.
So what dates should you avoid? The second Saturday, which is the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, is always the worst when it comes to large crowds. In 2018, more than 270,000 people attended the Fair that day alone. That was an all-time single day attendance record. Compare that to the 120,000 people who attended on day 6 — a difference of over 150,000 people.
