The Delaware State Fair completed its centennial celebration by breaking attendance records.
Attendance rose to 328,000 for the 10 days of Fair which ran from Thursday, July 18th and ended Saturday night July 27th. This year’s attendance represents a 12 percent increase over last year.
The fair broke an all-time closing day attendance record when nearly 54,000 patrons visited the Fair on the last day, Saturday, July 27th. The fair has received national recognition in recent years
The Fair broke an all-time weekday attendance record on Wednesday, July 24th when nearly 48,000 patrons attended the Fair. The 24th was the day after the heatwave of summer 2019. Attendees liked the milder daytime temperatures, lower humidity and cooler nights.
The first five days were a different story for patrons, exhibitors and animals as heat indices averaged 108 degrees.
“Tuesday was a day of weather transition when the area was doused with a full day of rain. Finally, when great weather arrived last Wednesday and hung around through closing on Saturday night it seemed like the entire Del-Mar-Va peninsula decided it was time to visit the fair and boy were we ready for every one of those visitors” said Bill DiMondi, general manager of the fair.
The official centennial M&T Bank Grandstand entertainment schedule featured two sold-out shows by Reba McEntire and the country duo Dan + Shay. Assistant General Manager Danny Aguilar noted that the “pit” tickets located directly in front of the stage and the VIP concert packages were in high demand by the area’s concert concert-goers
“The Fair enjoyed partnerships with a record number of corporate sponsors this year including for the first time, a presenting sponsor, Corteva Agriscience. Corteva is the Delaware based spin-off of the agricultural seed and chemical lines of DowDuPont.
Additional blue-ribbon sponsors include Food Lion, Hertrich Family of Automobile Dealerships, Delaware Lottery, Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware, Delaware Electric Cooperative, All-Span, Pepsi and the Delaware Department of Agriculture.
