California State Fair Sees Highest Attendance Since 2008

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It's a fair to remember. Nearby fires and record-high temperatures couldn't keep California State Fairgoers away as the annual event reached attendance not seen in the last six years.

A statement from fair organizers Monday reports final attendance grew eight percent over 2013 to 750,000 guests – the highest number since 2008.

Fair organizers credit expanded entertainment options, positive fair-related messages on social media and tickets that included admission to Republic FC games as helping lead to the increase.

"Setting new attendance records during a summer of adverse weather, drought and fires, is a testament to the resiliency of the people of California and to the evolving relevance of the State Fair," said Rick Pickering, CEO of the California Exposition and State Fair. "The 2014 State Fair's theme of 'The Best' was designed to help celebrate, preserve, and inspire California's most valuable asset – it's people."

The California State Fair also became the most "liked" fair in the Western United States on Facebook with 108,196 fans.

In addition to the number of attendees, officials released the following estimates:

Guest Services
- 159,242 cars parked
- 47 lost phones returned to their owners
- 6,000 Bandaids given out by guest services
- 3,864,000 feet of toilet paper used

Social & Web
- 51,921 new Facebook fans since June 1, 2014 bringing the total to 108,196 -- the most "liked' fair in the western United States
- 589 social media posts by the State Fair, including 162 Facebook, 361 tweets and retweets and 66 Instagram posts during the Fair
- 756,459 total visits to the CAStateFair.org website since June 1, 2014
- 3.3 million page views on the CAStateFair.org website since June 1, 2014

Food & Beverage
- 75,000+ corn dogs eaten
- 40,000+ funnel cakes served
- 7,600 free, personalized Coca-Cola cans given out to guests
- 2.5 tons of whole wheat flour, 1,000 lbs. of cream cheese and 1 ton of cinnamon sugar used to make the Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls
- 2,156 State Fair Brewers' Festival attendees
- 13,119 wine slushies served in the Save Mart Supermarkets Wine Country
- 12,191 scoops of gelato served by Colossal Gelato

Animals
- 38 animals born in the Baby Barn
- 6,393 livestock animals
- 2,725 yards of manure removed from the livestock area
- 214,710 dollars raised by 58 youth in the Tractor Supply Jr. Livestock Auction

Entertainment
- 2,601 jumps in the Jack in the Box Freestyle Motocross show
- 62,201 monorail rides
- 612 guests hypnotized on the PG&E Center Stage
- 500,000 dollars in horseracing capital improvements

Exhibits
- 3,696 lbs. of fresh food harvested from The Farm presented by Save Mart Supermarkets and donated to local food banks during fair.
- 2,500 completed Read to Ride book reports turned in for 5,000 free rides by Butler Amusements
- 10,700 tree seedlings given out to guests in Forest Center
- 14,400 kids completed the passport program in The Farm presented by Save Mart Supermarkets
- 9,000 water efficient nozzles given out to guests by Toro to help save water
- 29 pieces of art sold from the fine art exhibit

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