How Does The State Fair Count People?
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- In its first three days, the State Fair set two new records. On Thursday, they reported 122,695 tickets were counted. On Saturday, 222,194 people showed up.
That had some WCCO viewers wanted to know: How does the State Fair count people? Good question.
Scanners at each of the Fair entrances can now give State Fair officials attendance numbers almost immediately. Up until a few years ago, each of the tickets were counted by hand by people in the ticket audit department.
Candi from Wyoming asked: Do workers count in the attendance numbers? Yes and no.
Minnesota State Fair workers, which include sanitation, administration, parking lot attendants, ticket sales and more, are not included in State Fair attendance numbers. That averages to about 3,000 people per day.
Concession workers, which includes any outside vendors who work in the Midway or booths, must have a paid ticket to enter the Fair. That averages to about 7,000 people per day, or about one half of four percent of ticket sales.
Children under the age of 5 who do not require a ticket are also not counted in attendance totals.
Bob from Inver Grove Heights asked: Does the State Fair have an attendance limit?
"We haven't hit it yet," says Jerry Hammer, general manager of the Minnesota State Fair. He points out there are 322 acres at the Fair where people can spread out. He often asks people to compare that to the largest college football stadiums, where people enter and leave at the same times.
Jerry from Spring Lake Park asked: Do the politicians get in for free? No.
Hammer says all politicians and their staffs require tickets. He says the "pass list" that once existed disappeared in 1933.
He tells a story about a 1947 visit by Hubert Humphrey where the Vice President landed at the Grandstand for a night show. The ticket collector ran out to his helicopter to give him a ticket.