Attendance up at Illinois State Fair

SPRINGFIELD — Attendance was up nearly 15 percent at this year’s Illinois State Fair.

State Fair manager Amy Bliefnick tells The State Journal-Register in Springfield attendees seemed to enjoy the mild weather after weeks of heat earlier in the summer. Attendance for the 10-day fair was just more than 844,000 this year. Last year it was about 735,600.

Bliefnick says attendance figures “would have been very different” if central Illinois had the triple-digit temperatures it saw in July.

Attendance at grandstand shows also saw a slight increase. About 51,700 people attended music performances this year compared with about 49,600 last year. This year’s top draws were Miranda Lambert and Eric Church.

Ticket prices went up $2 this year to $7. The last day of the fair was Sunday.