State fair attendance up 10 percent

SPRINGFIELD — Attendance at this year’s Illinois State Fair increased 10 percent to more than 817,000.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced the statistics on Tuesday. His office says attendance during the 11-day fair in Springfield was 74,000 more than it was in 2010. Officials say attendance levels in 2011 were the highest since 2002.

The fair’s grandstand also attracted tens of thousands of people with its highest sales in 11 years. Quinn’s office says about 49,700 people bought tickets to grandstand concerts, which included acts like country singer Jason Aldean, comedian Jeff Dunham and rapper M.C. Hammer.

This year’s Governor’s Sale of Champions raised $135,200, including a record $51,200 for Sherman teenager Austin Burris’ grand champion junior steer.